ALL ARTS Premieres The Darkroom MCs

The Darkroom MCs is created, directed, produced and co-hosted by photographers Russell Frederick and Anderson Zaca. Photo credit: Givaldo Aires (Creke).
The Darkroom MCs is created, directed, produced and co-hosted by photographers Russell Frederick and Anderson Zaca. Photo credit: Givaldo Aires (Creke).

ALL ARTS Premieres The Darkroom MCs

ALL ARTS is the premier destination for inspiration, creativity and art of all forms. This New York Emmy-winning arts and culture hub is created by The WNET Group, the community-supported home of New York’s PBS stations.

The docuseries features darkroom sessions that illuminate the creative process and enduring influence of celebrated but often underrepresented Black photographic artists

NEW YORK, PRNewswire -- ALL ARTS the streaming platform and TV channel dedicated to the arts, will premiere The Darkroom MCs, a five-part documentary series created, directed, produced and co-hosted by photographers Russell Frederick and Anderson Zaca. Episodes will debut Wednesdays through July 16 on the ALL ARTS website, YouTube channel and free streaming app. Broadcast airdates will be announced at a later date.

The Darkroom MCs — short for The Darkroom Masters of Culture — offers an intimate look into the work and process of pioneering photographers, including Beuford Smith, Joseph Rodriguez, Adama Delphine Fawundu, Ozier Muhammad and Russell Frederick. The series explores how images preserve memory, identity, culture, history and social justice.

"We are proud to present The Darkroom MCs to amplify these groundbreaking voices in photography," said Kristy Geslain, executive producer at ALL ARTS. "This series gives viewers rare insight into the artistry, backstories and lived experiences behind iconic images that have shaped visual culture."

The series will include:

ALL ARTS: The Darkroom MCs – Ozier Muhammad

Premieres Wednesday, July 9, 2025

Access: AD, CC available

Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Ozier Muhammad discusses his mission as a documentarian and revisits landmark assignments, including Barack Obama's first presidential campaign, Nelson Mandela's election and the 1980s famine in Ethiopia. The episode features a darkroom session in which he prints a 1994 Harlem photograph.

Muhammad began his career at Ebony magazine, then joined The Charlotte Observer in North Carolina. He later worked for Newsday and ended his career at The New York Times. He has reported across Africa, the Middle East and the United States, building a deeply human body of work over more than five decades.

ALL ARTS: The Darkroom MCs – Russell Frederick

Premieres Wednesday, July 16, 2025

Access: AD, CC available

Photographer Russell Frederick continues to create compelling work after losing sight in one eye due to glaucoma and a detached retina. Best known for his black-and-white portraits of Bedford-Stuyvesant, he reflects on storytelling, community and resilience in this episode.

Frederick's work is included in the permanent collections of the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago; the Gordon Parks Museum in Fort Scott, Kansas; the Library of Congress; the Brooklyn Museum; and the Musée National du Mali. His photography has appeared in outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, PBS, ESPN and Slate. He has received grants from the Open Society Foundations, the New York Foundation for the Arts and the Laundromat Project. Frederick has taught at NYU and ICP, and has led UNESCO photography workshops in Ethiopia and South Sudan.

The Darkroom MCs is a production of The Darkroom Masters LLC and The WNET Group. Created, directed, produced and co-hosted by Anderson Zaca and Russell Frederick. Editors are André Macluf, Anderson Zaca and Russell Frederick. Givaldo Aires "Creke" is the director of photography and cinematographer.

For ALL ARTS: Kristy Geslain is Executive Producer. James King is Senior Artistic Director. Anna Campbell is Senior Multimedia Producer. Darren Peister is editor. Diane Masciale and Neal Shapiro are Executives in Charge. For all the ways to watch, visit AllArts.org/Everywhere.

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