In 1957, Milton Rogovin was declared to be the top Communist in Buffalo by The Buffalo News and his life was turned upside down. Effectively, his political voice was silenced as society shunned him and his friends disappeared. In reality, he was an optometrist promoting workers’ rights in the local unions and helping to register Black voters. But re-fusing to be intimidated or be silenced by the HUAC (House of Un-American Activities), he found a new political voice - a camera.

Rogovin began documenting Buffalo’s working classes, photographing the disenfranchised, the marginalized and those he considers ‘the forgotten ones’. But Rogovin’s style was not to exploit their circumstances. The portraits he took do not emphasize the harsh conditions of their lives, but rather the dignity with which they lived.

Rogovin travelled around the world, photographing poor Chilean villagers and soot-covered coal miners in a dozen co untries. Though marginalized himself for his politics, he collaborated with poet Pablo Neruda and others at the forefront of the social justice movement.

But Rogovin, now 97 years old, never intended to be an artist. His prints are his protests – his only concern is the fight for social justice.

This is not a good film; it’s a great film… it could change the world. – Pete Seeger

This film will be screened with Fish Kill Flea