Roy DeCarava
Roy Rudolph DeCarava (born December 9, 1919 in New York City , USA - † October 27, 2009 in Manhattan , New York City, USA) was an American photographer .
Life
DeCarava was the son of a colored immigrant from Jamaica in what was then the British West Indies . The family moved very often within New York City, including Harlem , in the 1920s and 1930s . The young man discovered his inclinations for painting early on. Because of his talent, he was admitted to study painting at Cooper Union . He left this after two years of study to continue studying at the Harlem Art Center . In the following years he earned his living as an illustrator and painter. In addition, he started photography . In 1955 he opened an art gallery in New York City, in which exhibitions could also take place. This existed for two years.
DeCarava often took orders for photographic representations of certain topics, but viewed his work as artistic works and not as press reports. In 1955 he completed his work The Sweet Flypaper of Life with photos about Harlem and text by Langston Hughes . In later years he no longer worked as a freelance photographer, but began teaching black and white photography at New York's Hunter College as a university lecturer .
DeCarava was married to his second wife, who is an art historian, for 39 years. The couple have one son and three daughters. A son comes from the photographer's first marriage.
honors and awards
- 1994: Distinguished Professor of Art. From the City University of New York .
- 2001: Gold Medal for Photography from the National Arts Club , New York City.
- 2006: United States National Medal of Arts des National Endowment for the Arts .
- 2007: Prix Charles Delaunay
Publications
-
The Sweet Flypaper of Life. Simon and Schuster, New York 1955, OCLC 468808146 . (with a text by Langston Hughes); (Reprint: Howard University Press, Washington 1984, ISBN 0-88258-152-X )
- Harlem story. The Sweet Flypaper of Life / The sweet glue of life . translated into German by Paridam von dem Knesebeck . Edition Langewiesche-Brandt, Ebenhausen near Munich 1956, DNB 450882438 . (English and German text)
- The Sound I Saw: Improvisations on a Jazz Theme . Phaidon Press, London / New York 2001, ISBN 0-7148-4331-8 .
literature
- Exhibition catalog: Roy DeCarava: Retrospective , Museum of Modern Art , New York City 1996, ISBN 0-870701266 .
Web links
- Website on the photographer (Engl.)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | DeCarava, Roy |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | DeCarava, Roy Rudolph (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American photographer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 9, 1919 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | New York City , USA |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 27, 2009 |
| Place of death | Manhattan , New York City, USA |