Rehmat Sakrani
The Arts in NYC
IDC 1001H
James Van Der Zee, Photographer
James Augustus Van Der Zee was born on June 29, 1886, in Lenox, Massachusetts. In his early life, he learned to play the piano and the violin. Later on, he developed a passion for photography and cultivated his talent throughout high school. In 1906, Zee moved to Harlem with his brother Walter, and worked as a waiter, as well as an elevator operator. After getting married a year later, he moved to Virginia and worked as a photographer for the Hampton Institute. For several years he also used his musical talents by playing with bands and orchestras, and working as a teacher. However by 1915, he rerouted to photography. After working as a darkroom assistant in New Jersey, Van Der Zee moved back to Harlem and opened up his own studio, called the Guarantee Photo Studio, in 1916. This became his workplace and a home for his art.
From World War I to 1945, Van Der Zee’s business boomed. The portraits he shot during this time demanded the majority of critical attention and documented the Harlem Renaissance. Although he would photograph “Harlemites” of all backgrounds and occupations, his work was mostly known for depicting middle-class African-American life. He also photographed many African-American celebrities, including black-nationalist leader Marcus Garvey, and first African-American politician, Adam Clayton Powell Jr.. Van Der Zee loved giving a narrative to those he took pictures of. Many times he took pictures at weddings, funerals, family groups, and simply of those who wanted to document themselves in fine clothing. An example of this can be seen in his 1935 photograph titled, Lady with Fur Jacket. The woman portrayed in the photo is smiling slightly and seems to be in a well financial state. Van Der Zee also gave the photograph a sepia tone which helps it give a classy, elegant, old age look.
Van Der Zee also made sure to use many different props like backdrops, architectural elements, and costumes to keep up with the late Victorian visual traditions. In a famous work of his, made in 1922, titled Evening Attire, he photographs a young woman who is dressed in a beaded evening gown, an elegant, full hat, and a foxtail wrap. As she stands, holding a spray of flowers, it is the backdrop, table cover, and decorative figurine by her side, that evoke a formal Victorian home interior. These formal interiors were seen in Edwardian portraiture and 19th century cartes de visite, or the small photographs people used as calling cards.
Van Der Zee also developed another technique in his photography besides using props. He established the photo montage which depicts multiple images in one picture. One of his famous works titled Future Expectations (Wedding Day), made in 1925, depicted a young couple pictured in wedding clothes with a ghostly, transparent image of a child at their feet. Unlike other photographers, he was also able to add special effects like the child’s transparent manner, and the child holding another child, because of his darkroom experience. The photograph represents what the future of the young couple could be which is obviously expressed and portrayed by the shadow of the young children.
When Van Der Zee was asked about this specific painting he said, “I wanted to make the camera take what I thought should be there.” That is a main reason as to why I specifically think that photography is an art form. Since the photographer can show his or her own perspective while documenting history.
A great quality that was seen in Van Der Zee’s character was his treatment of the subjects. Even if his subjects or his muse was not famous, Van Der Zee gave them all an equal amount of respect. “I tried to pose each person in such a way to tell a story,” he explained. A lot of his works that are known the most actually, do not include famous people as seen with these three works mentioned above. In fact, he would often set his subjects in dramatic situations like a child or a young man speaking on a telephone, for example, to show people of lower or middle class the same attention as he would show celebrities.
This dramatized situation is seen in the photograph above titled Studio Portrait of Young Man with Telephone. Taken in 1929, this image shows different light and dark contrast between the backdrops and a variety in furniture. The young man is dressed in an elegant suit and stands next to the telephone with one of his hands resting on top. During this era, the telephone was considered to be a valuable item and portrayed status and class. Although there is not enough information to tell whether this was the boy’s actual telephone or just a prop that was used by Van Der Zee, we can infer that the telephone represents a lot more than just a communication device. Even the boy’s stance portrays a sense of class and elegance that adds to the telephone. Van Der Zee allows the audience to use their imagination in order to unfold the mystery of some of his photographs.
Despite all these amazing photographs taken by Van Der Zee, after the second World War, the photographer faced financial hardships. People began to buy their own personal cameras and there was less of a need for professional photographers. Van Der Zee moved to a smaller studio and began taking passport photos on the side to make ends meet. It was not until age 82, in 1968, that his work was stumbled upon by a photo researcher named Reginald McGhee. He discovered that Van Der Zee has a collection of 75,000 photos that covered approximately six decades of African American life. The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art immediately featured his work in an exhibit they called “Harlem On My Mind” and Van Der Zee became an overnight sensation. He received national recognition and celebrities like Muhammad Ali went to Van Der Zee to have their portraits taken.
In 1983, Van Der Zee died at the age of 96. The legacy that he left behind is like no other. He especially played a major role in documenting and celebrating the city of Harlem and its people. McGhee stated, “In these photographs you will not see the common images of black Americans — downtrodden rural or urban citizens. Instead, you will see a people of great pride and fascinating beauty.” I believe McGhee’s quote holds true because this principle is consistently seen throughout many of the works that I was able to explore and learn from.
Works Cited
“James Van Der Zee Biography.” Bio.com. Ed. Biography.com Editors. A&E Networks Television, 2 Apr. 2014. Web. 20 Oct. 2016.
“James VanDerZee”. Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2016. Web. 21 Oct. 2016
“James Van Der Zee.” Howard Greenberg Gallery. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.
McCollum, Sean. “James Van Der Zee: Documenter of 1920s Harlem.” Scholastic Teachers. Scholastic, n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.
Van Der Zee, James. Evening Attire. 1922. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Harlem. Web. 24 Oct. 2016.
Van Der Zee, James. Studio Portrait of Young Man with Telephone. 1929. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Harlem. Web. 24 Oct. 2016.
Watson, Elwood. “Van Der Zee, James (1886-1983).” The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.
