Poster for the movie The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman's Portrait Photography

The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman's Portrait Photography

2017 • 76 minutes
Documentary

Portrait photographer Elsa Dorfman found her medium in 1980: the larger-than-life Polaroid Land 20x24 camera. For the next thirty-five years, she captured the “surfaces” of those who visited her studio: families, Beat poets, rock stars, and Harvard notables. As pictures begin to fade and her retirement looms, Dorfman gives Errol Morris an inside tour of her backyard archive.

Picture of Elsa Dorfman

Elsa Dorfman

Self

Picture of Errol Morris

Errol Morris

Self

Picture of Allen Ginsberg

Allen Ginsberg

Self (archive footage)

Picture of W.H. Auden

W.H. Auden

Self (archive footage)

Picture of Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell

Self (archive footage)

Picture of Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

Self (archive footage)

Picture of Anaïs Nin

Anaïs Nin

Self (archive footage)

Picture of Andrea Dworkin

Andrea Dworkin

Self (archive footage)

Picture of Andrew Wylie

Andrew Wylie

Self (archive footage)

Picture of Victor Bockris

Victor Bockris

Self (archive footage)

Picture of Gail Mazur

Gail Mazur

Self (archive footage)

Picture of Harvey Silverglate

Harvey Silverglate

Self (archive footage)

Picture of Audre Lorde

Audre Lorde

Self (archive footage)

Picture of Anne Sexton

Anne Sexton

Self (archive footage)

Picture of Peter Orlovsky

Peter Orlovsky

Self (archive footage)

Picture of Jack Elliott

Jack Elliott

Self (archive footage)

Picture of Ed Sanders

Ed Sanders

Self (archive footage)