Hugh Bell and Richard Leacock, AD Reel

Richard Leacock, the noted cinéma vérité filmmaker, befriended Hugh Bell early on in his career. Bell acknowledged that the filmmaker wanted to help minorities “get a good shake in the business”. Since Bell had studied Cinematic Arts at NYU, Leacock engaged him to be his assistant cameraman on “Jazz Dance” and other films. Bell also accompanied Leacock on several trips to Spain. From these professional connections grew a lifelong friendship between Bell and the Leacock family. The Hugh Bell archive contains negatives, slides and digital scans that serve as Bell’s poetic records of these family visits.