Description
James VanDerZee (1886-1983) was an African-American photographer known for his portraits of the black community in Harlem during the 1920s and 1930s. Born in Lenox, Massachusetts, VanDerZee moved to Harlem in 1906 and opened a photography studio in 1916.
VanDerZee’s photography style was characterized by his use of dramatic lighting, props, and backdrops to create striking portraits of his subjects. He was particularly skilled at capturing the spirit of the Harlem Renaissance, a period of artistic and cultural rebirth among African-Americans in the 1920s.
VanDerZee’s work was largely forgotten until the 1960s when a young historian named Reginald McGhee discovered a cache of his photographs in an abandoned Harlem studio. Since then, VanDerZee’s work has been celebrated for its unique perspective on black life during a time of great social and political change in America.
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