An Affair of the Skin

An Affair of the Skin is a 1963 drama film written and directed by Ben Maddow. It is a complex story of the romantic entanglements of its several characters as seen through the eyes of a black woman photographer. Shortly after its release, the film was harshly reviewed in Time and The New York Times.[1][2] Woody Haut's more recent characterization is more sympathetic:[3]

Maddow is reported as feeling that the initial release of An Affair of the Skin had been rushed for financial reasons. In 1973, 10 years after its initial release, Maddow re-edited and released it again under the title Love As Disorder. As described by John Hagan, "An offscreen narration by the photographer was added to establish her as an observer: a participant in the action, but also a caustic chronicler of it. As in much of Maddow's work, inner disorder is seen against a background of social unrest as described in a highly imagistic manner by a person who has both emotional involvement and critical detachment."[4]