The Picture Taker

The Picture Taker

Premiered January 30, 2023

Directed by

Phil Bertelsen

The vibrant life of Ernest Withers—civil rights photographer, and FBI informant—was anything but black and white.

EXPLORE THE FILM

About the Documentary

From his Memphis studio, Ernest Withers’ nearly 2 million images were a treasured record of Black history but his legacy was complicated by decades of secret FBI service revealed only after his death. Was he a friend of the civil rights community, or enemy—or both?

The Filmmakers

Phil Bertelsen

Emmy and Peabody winner Phil Bertelsen directed Through the Fire, School of the Future, and episodes of The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross and Finding Your Roots. He co-directed NBC’s Hope and Fury: MLK, the Movement and the Media and Netflix's Who Killed Malcolm X?, which helped exonerate two men convicted of Malcolm X’s murder.

Lise Yasui

Lise Yasui produced and directed the Oscar-nominated Family Gathering, about her Japanese American family’s WWII internment experience. It aired on American Experience, the BBC, and Star TV. She co-produced Frontline's Peabody-winning The Gate of Heavenly Peace, about the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, which was broadcast internationally.

Full Credits