When I saw previews for The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait Photography, I thought that I would definitely watch it…..on Netflix, but a close friend was trying to convince me to see it in theaters. It was either that documentary or An Inconvenient Sequel, and the idea of seeing one of the most repugnant men in my lifetime on the big screen even briefly (and I’m not talking about Al Gore) and hearing Gore do his best impression of a Southern Pentecostal preacher does not make me eager to leave my house or reach for my wallet. When Landmark’s Kendall Square Cinema, my third favorite theater, advertised a special screening followed by a Q&A with Errol Morris, the director, and Elsa Dorfman, the subject of the documentary, I caved, and we bought tickets.
My friend is older than me-old enough to retire (so jealous), and she adored the film. I was less than riveted though I was very interested in Dorfman specifically and photography in general. I have an unofficial rule about documentaries. If the filmmaker is too close to the subject, he or she will be unable to completely communicate the subject to people unfamiliar with it. The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait Photography felt more like an unofficial sidequel to Time Zero: The Last Year of Polaroid Film because of the amount of time devoted to the technical aspect of her art rather than explaining more about the time period. More time was spent defining her through her relationship with famous people that I know of, but am not familiar with. This documentary was geared for an older generation, not a forty-something like me, which is a shame because Dorfman is an intriguing person.
Dorfman cheekily says that she is a nice Jewish girl shocked by her friends’ antics and nudity, but while it is feasible to be a nice Jewish girl and enjoy taking naked self-portraits, I wanted more details about her as a person as opposed to sneak peeks of her personality. Even though The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait Photography conveys how skilled she is at forming long-lasting relationships, innovating and surviving, it does not fully capture the woman that I saw—a woman who spontaneously recalled people in the audience whom she took photographs of even though she is in her 80s and while politically active in the sixties seemed to view our current peril with equanimity and less alarm than other people her age. On the other hand, she is facing cancer so illness may seem more challenging since it hits closer to home.
The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait Photography does effectively depict the ephemeral nature of time. Everything becomes obsolete. The tools of her trade rapidly change then disappear so she is forced to retire. The young woman transforms into an elderly woman. Her little boy becomes a man. Vibrant friends die. Photographs decay. Movies are a time machine and a time capsule. In less than ninety minutes, eighty years flash before our eyes.
As my friend would say, The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait Photography is for the oldsters, but for the rest of us, the deliberate pacing may make it difficult not to frequently pause or get distracted. If you are interested in photography and women pioneers, particularly artists, definitely give the documentary a chance with the understanding that the film is not remotely close to a comprehensive depiction of the artist.