James Van Der Zee
James Van Der Zee (born June 29, 1886 in Lenox , Massachusetts , † May 15, 1983 in Washington, DC ) was an American photographer .
Life
Van Der Zee grew up as the second of six children in a close family relationship. As a child he learned to play musical instruments such as the violin or piano and learned a lot about the arts. At the age of 14, he was already taking photos of the city and family portraits in his hometown with a camera that was given to him and developed the images himself.
After Van Der Zee's move to New York City with father and brother, music lessons became his main source of income. At 29, he worked in the darkroom of the Gertz department store in Newark , New Jersey , stepping in for his employer as a photographer when necessary. In 1917 he opened his own studio, Guarantee Photography , and had immediate success. He belonged to the group of artists of the 1920s known as the Harlem Renaissance . In 1932 he moved to a larger studio in Harlem , the GGG studio on Lenox Avenue between 123rd and 124th Streets. He took his photographs in an opulent setting with exotic architecture and in some cases with clothing reminiscent of the time around the previous turn of the century.
The years of the Great Depression and the advent of 35mm cameras forced Van Der Zee to get by with passport photos and other jobs. After the Second World War he got a few special orders and dealt with the restoration of photographs. Only in old age did he and his collection of photographs and negatives become known to the general public. Most photographs in the exhibition Harlem on My Mind of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1969 came from him. In the 1970s he portrayed celebrities such as Bill Cosby , Muhammad Ali and Lou Rawls .
publication
- with Owen Dodson and Camille Billops: The Harlem Book of the Dead . Morgan & Morgan, Dobbs Ferry, New York City, USA 1998, ISBN 0-871001527 .
exhibition
- 1993: Retrospective at the National Portrait Gallery , Washington DC
literature
- Deborah Willis-Braithwite: VanDerZee, Photographer. 1886-1983. HN Abrams, New York City 1993, ISBN 0-8109-3923-1 .
- Thomas Hoving : Making the Mummies Dance . Simon & Schuster, New York City 1993, ISBN 0-671-73854-2 .
- Kobena Mercer: James VanDerZee. Phaidon, London / New York City 2003, ISBN 0-7148-4169-2 .
- Colin Westerbeck: The James Van Der Zee Studio. The Art Institute of Chicago , Chicago 2004, ISBN 0-86559-210-1 .
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Van Der Zee, James |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Van der Zee, James Augustus Joseph (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American photographer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 29, 1886 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Lenox , Massachusetts , United States |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 15, 1983 |
| Place of death | Washington, DC , United States |