Student Academy Award Finalist Film Spotlights Pioneering Black Photographers
Michael Blackshire, a 32-year-old filmmaker based in Los Angeles, created a documentary titled 'Voices in the Mirror,' which focuses on the impactful work of Black photojournalists Ovie Carter and Bob Black. This documentary has earned the distinction of being a Finalist for the 2026 Student Academy Award. Blackshire graduated with a degree in film/photojournalism from the University of Western Kentucky in 2020 and later completed his master's at Ohio University in December 2025. His passion for the project was ignited by Carter's images during a 2022 internship at the Chicago Tribune. He has also interned at The Washington Post (2021), The Atlanta Journal Constitution (2023), and the Los Angeles Times (2023-24), featuring interviews with the esteemed Carter, 80, and Black, 87, who discuss their vital roles in photojournalism amidst challenges like AI and layoffs.
Key facts
- Michael Blackshire's documentary 'Voices in the Mirror' is a 2026 Student Academy Award Finalist.
- The film features interviews with octogenarian photojournalists Ovie Carter and Bob Black.
- Ovie Carter, 80, won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting with William Mullen for 'The Faces of Hunger.'
- Carter worked at the Chicago Tribune from 1969-2004 and pioneered photographic editorials.
- Bob Black, 87, worked for the Chicago Defender from 1965 and the Chicago Sun-Times from 1968-2006.
- Black co-founded the Visual Task Force at NABJ and was a founder of the Chicago Alliance of African American Photographers (CAAAP).
- Blackshire earned degrees from the University of Western Kentucky (2020) and Ohio University (December 2025).
- The documentary's title echoes Gordon Parks' 1990 memoir 'Voices in the Mirror.'
Entities
Artists
- Michael Blackshire
- Ovie Carter
- Bob Black
- William Mullen
- Gordon Parks
Institutions
- Student Academy Awards
- Chicago Tribune
- Chicago Defender
- Chicago Sun-Times
- World Press Photo
- National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ)
- Overseas Press Club of America
- Chicago Alliance of African American Photographers (CAAAP)
- University of Western Kentucky
- Ohio University
- Los Angeles Times
- The Atlanta Journal Constitution
- The Washington Post
Locations
- Chicago
- Los Angeles
- United States