'Uncropped' turns the lens back onto an iconic photographer

Village Voice photojournalist captured New York City for decades.

We see literally hundreds of photos that James Hamilton took in the documentary “Uncropped.” But almost no self-portraits.

As a photojournalist, most famously with the Village Voice between 1974 and 1993, Hamilton preferred to turn his lens outward to capture his beloved New York City. From Halston fashion shows to Coney Island gangs to AIDS victims on their deathbeds, Hamilton’s camera documented it all over his seven-decade career. 

And he’s not finished. In the opening and closing scenes of the film by D.W. Young (“The Booksellers”), Hamilton is in his element. Camera in hand, he’s prowling the streets of his city, looking for images to capture. “Something in my brain tells me that it’s time to shoot,” he says. “Something just clicks.”

“Uncropped” doubles as both a biography of the photographer and a document of the times he lived through. In particular, it’s a love letter to bygone alt-weeklies like The Voice, where, as one former writer puts it, art and journalism were always in dialogue.

Which made it the perfect home for a photojournalist like Hamilton, for whom quantity of photos and quality were never in contrast. Hamilton seemed to photograph everybody – Meryl Streep, Wes Anderson, Jack Nicholson, Salvador Dali and many, many more whir by in the film’s slide show. He also served as a stills photographer for filmmakers like Anderson and George A. Romero, capturing something intimate and unguarded about life on a film set.

He loved sharp contrasts and bright lights, and captured something human about his subjects that other celebrity photographers would miss. “Nine out of times there’s something else going on in your portraits,” one colleague tells him in the film. “There’s this other thing in there.”

The “other thing,” it’s clear, is Hamilton. Described as a quiet “Zen master” among the cacophony of the Voice newsroom, Hamilton comes across in “Uncropped” as affable, thoughtful and passionate (but not precious) about his work. If the documentary wanders a bit over the course of its leisurely 111-minute running time, it’s Hamilton’s humble presence who keeps us tethered. 

Hamilton’s storage space is packed with tubs of contact sheets and photos, all meticulously catalogued and preserved. “My contact sheets are like a diary so I can segment time that way,” he says. “Uncropped” beautifully brings those photographs back into the world, along with the eye of the man who took them.

“Uncropped” screens in Madison at 7 p.m. Thursday at Arts + Literature Laboratory, 111 S. Livingston St., in a screening co-sponsored by Photo Midwest 2024. The screening is free. The film is also available to rent online.