THE PHOTOGRAPHIC EYE

FOCAL POINT: James Van Der Zee, 1886-1983
James Van Der Zee, Couple in Raccoon Coats, 1932. Courtesy Donna Van Der Zee.
James Van Der Zee was unique in
many ways. First and foremost, he
was perhaps the most accomplished
black photographer in history, and is
certainly the best known today. His
record of Harlem in the 1920s is unsurpassed,
in both quantity and
quality. But he was unique in other
ways as well.
Stylistically, he employed both
stark realism and dreamy romanticism.
Technically, he produced
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20 The Photographic Eye
"straight" prints in the style of the
Photo Secessionists (Stieglitz,
Weston, Steichen, etc.) as well as
heavily manipulated images, which
the Photo Secessionists had rejected.
Moreover, he used both approaches
interchangeably, according to his interpretation
of a particular scene.
One day he might do a straight outdoor
portrait of someone on the
street. And the next day he might
pose a newly-wed couple in his
studio, and produce a doubleexposed
print showing their yet-to-beborn
child as a ghost beside them.
Van Der Zee's photographic career
was far from easy. Though he
became interested in photography at
the age of 14 (when he purchased a
mail-order camera and darkroom
kit), he was 30 before he was able to
earn a living at it. In between, he
worked as a waiter, elevator operator
and even as a violinist in a dance or-