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James VanDerZee was born on June 29, 1886 in Lenox,
Massachusetts.
James VanDerZee was one of the first
Afro-American Photographers and is remembered as one of the most
important photographers of the Afro-American community.
James was a self-taught photographer
whose career spanned over eighty years. His early years were
spent working as a waiter at the Hotel
Aspinwall in the small mountain resort town of Lenox where
he purchased his first camera in 1899 from a mail-order company
and began taking pictures of his family and friends. He is best known
for his photographs of the people and times of the Harlem
Renaissance.
James moved to Harlem
in 1905 and opened his first studio in 1916 and began photographing
families, weddings, celebrities, and individuals in the Harlem area.
His early work included photographs of such noted celebrities as Marcus
Garvey, Bojangles, Jack Johnson, Conte
Cullen, and Father Devine.
During the 1920s and 1930s James
photographs of individuals in what became known as the Harlem
Renaissance, reflected Afro-American dignity, achievement, idealism,
and success.
The author of "Reflections
in Black," Deborah Willis-Braithwaite, wrote that
VanDerZee's images define a people in the process of transformation
and a culture in transition."
After World War II, James fortunes
declined, he lost his studio and by the 1960s he and his wife Gaynella
were living in poverty. His work was rediscovered in 1969 after
his photographs were included in the exhibition, "Harlem
On My Mind" at the New York Metropolitan Museum of
Art. He was 82 years old at the time.
Gaynella died in 1976 and in 1978 James
married Donna Mussenden who successfully promoted his work. From 1980
to 1983 James produced a series of portraits of famous African
Americans which included, Muhammad Ali, Cicely
Tyson, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, and Bill
Cosby. Over the years James received many awards including an
honorary doctorate from Howard
University.
James VanDerZee died in Washington, DC
on May 15, 1983 at the age of 96.
Sources:
Encyclopedia
Africana
VanDerZee:
Photographer 1886-1983
Reflections
in Black: A History of Black Photographers, 1840 to the Present
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