John Shearer documentary sets Newport premiere for American Moments
The short film on the LIFE and Look photographer debuts July 30 with a photo exhibition and live jazz performance in Newport.
By Poppy Nakagawa · Culture Writer
3 min read
The John Shearer documentary American Moments will have its world premiere July 30 in Newport, Rhode Island, bringing fresh attention to a Black photojournalist who shot some of the 20th century’s most seared-in public images.
Deadline reported that the short film, John Shearer: American Moments, will debut at a special newportFILM screening held with the Newport Jazz Festival and the Newport Restoration Foundation. The event is set for Rough Point, the former Doris Duke mansion.
The screening will not be a plain lights-down affair. Deadline reported that it will also include an exhibition of Shearer’s photographs and a performance by the Alison Shearer Quartet, led by his daughter, saxophonist Alison Shearer.
When does the John Shearer documentary premiere?
John Shearer: American Moments premieres Thursday, July 30, in Newport. Deadline reported that the film will also screen Aug. 5 at the Rhode Island Film Festival in Providence, with a broader festival run being planned for the fall.
James Spione directed the film. Alison Shearer, Jesse P. Cutler and Spione produced it, with cinematography by John Molinelli, according to Deadline.
Who was John Shearer?
John Shearer was a photographer for Look and later LIFE magazine whose work included the funerals of President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Attica uprising, Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, and the unrest of the 1960s and 1970s, according to a film announcement cited by Deadline.
Deadline reported that Shearer was 16 when he photographed Kennedy’s funeral, including an image showing Ted Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy, Peter Lawford, Robert F. Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy and John F. Kennedy Jr. saluting.
The film’s materials describe Shearer as a photographer whose pictures helped define how many Americans saw major national events. They also say his work was known for immediacy, compassion and cultural weight.
Shearer also broke ground inside the magazine world. According to the film synopsis reported by Deadline, he became the second African American staff photographer at LIFE, after Gordon Parks, who had mentored him.
The synopsis says the film follows Shearer in the final year of his life at the secluded upstate New York cottage where he spent his later years. It combines interviews with Shearer and his photographs, while placing his career against the fading age of print photojournalism.
Spione lived near Shearer in New York’s Hudson Valley and first knew him as a neighbor, Deadline reported. As Shearer’s health declined, Spione interviewed him over many months at the home Shearer shared with his wife, Marianne.
Alison Shearer said in a statement reported by Deadline that although her father’s images are woven into American culture, his personal story is not widely known. She said producing the documentary and composing and performing its soundtrack gave her a new way to work with his legacy.
The Newport premiere will be followed by a Q&A with Alison Shearer, Spione and Nate Smith, artistic director of the Newport Jazz Festival. For the live music portion, Deadline reported that Alison Shearer will perform with Kevin Bernstein on keys, Martey Kenney on bass and Ben Silashi on drums.
Deadline reported that Smith curated the full event, including the premiere, the concert and the display of John Shearer prints.
This story draws on original reporting from Deadline.