James+Van+Der+Zee

James VanDerZee was born in Lenox MA on June 29 1886. He worked as a musician in the early 1900, giving violin and piano lessons to those who wanted it. In 1905 he began taking pictures for a living. He liked to take many different types of photos, but his favorite pictures to take were pictures of women, and death pictures of children. Further in his career he began to take pictures of famous African Americans, Such as, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. He also liked to take family photos because as a child his family was never able to afford family pictures. In 1916 he opened his own photographic studio in Harlem and made a lot of money selling and taking his photos. By 1937 James VanDerZee was a well known photographer. In 1969 one of his photos was displayed in a well known museum in Washington DC. He married Kate Brown in 1906 and had two children, Emil and Rachel. At the age of one, Emil died, and at the age of fifteen, Rachel died. Kate Brown and James VanDerZee divorced in 1914. After the divorce of Kate Brown, VanDerZee married Gaynella Greenlee in 1920. In 1970 James VanDerZee suffered another tragic loss when his wife Gaynella died. In 1978 he married a woman named Donna Mussenden. He stayed with her for the rest of his life. James VanDerZee died of a heart attack in Washington DC, 1883. James VanDerZee lived a very tragic, yet historical life, and will forever be known in our hearts as “a man who made it possible… to take pictures as an African American”

Work Cited Authors last name, first name- Harrison, Maya Title of article- James VanDerZee Title of webpage- Biography in Context Publisher- Gale Date of publication- 1914 Name of Database- Discus Medium Publication- Web --- Authors last name- Englebert, Philis Tital of book- African American Biography Place of publication- United States Year of publication- 2001 Medium of publication- print
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Info On James Van Der Zee Nationality: American Born: Lenox, Massachusetts, 29 June 1886. Education: Attended Lenox public schools; self-taught in photography. Family: Married Kate Brown in 1906 (divorced, 1914); children: Rachel (died, 1923) and Emile (died, 1911); married Gaynella Greenlee in 1920 (died, 1970); married Donna Mussenden in 1978. Career: Worked as busboy, waiter, elevator man, etc., New York, 1906-07; dining-room waiter, etc., Hotel Chamberlain, Old Point Comfort, Virginia, 1907-09; worked as waiter, and musician, with Fletcher Henderson Band and John Wanamaker Orchestra, New York, 1909-15; darkroom assistant and photographer, Gertz's Department Store, Newark, New Jersey, 1915-16; opened own photographic studio (Guarantee Photos, and later, GGG Photo Studio), New York, 1916-68; ceased professional photography, New York, 1969; resumed photography, New York, 1980 until his death in 1983. Recipient: American Society of Magazine Photographers Award, 1969; Life Fellowship, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1970; Pierre Toussaint Award, 1978; President's Living Legacy Award, Washington, D.C., 1978. D.H.L.: Howard University, Washington, D.C., 1983. James Van Der Zee Institute established by Reginald McGhee and Charles Innis, now under care of Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1969. Estate: James Van Der Zee Institute, 103 East 125th Street, New York, New York 10035, U.S.A. Agent: Howard Greenberg Gallery, 120 Wooster Street, New York 10012, U.S.A. Died: (in Washington, D.C.) 15 May 1983. ``The message of Van Der Zee's photography is a universal one,'' wrote Prof. Regina A. Perry some years ago. ``To the Black viewer, the revealing glimpses of people and activities in America's most unique Black community are bound to instill an element of pride and self-respect. To the non-Black viewer, Van Der Zee's photographs represent Black Americans in all their grace and dignity--an impressive point of view which should help dispel existing misconceptions. Above all, Van Der Zee was a photographer of people, and his works are both raceless and timeless.'' James Van Der Zee lived and photographed in Harlem for decades. Equally important, however, is that he lived and worked in Harlem during that community's remarkable decade of cultural flowering, the ``Harlem Renaissance'' from approximately 1919-1929. This was the period of Marcus Garvey's back-to-Africa movement (for which Van Der Zee served as official photographer), of Countee Cullen's poetry, of James P. Johnson's piano, and Duke Ellington's orchestra. It is unclear whether every celebrity of the period passed before Van Der Zee's lens, or merely ``almost'' every celebrity. Harlem's political, religious and cultural figures, therefore, comprise a large block of Van Der Zee's carefully preserved archive. So, too, do the groups around which much of everyday life was organized, the fraternal lodges, and sports and social clubs. As with the community itself, celebrations are prominent. Van Der Zee photographed weddings, dinners, and (especially in the years of the great influenza pandemic) many funerals. Perhaps above all, he photographed individuals, especially women, and families. Although many of Van Der Zee's photographs were made ``on location,'' he was a studio photographer in the truest sense. Much of his vision, indeed much of his time, was devoted to posing his subjects, to providing the right backgrounds, to structuring the moment. His portraits are deeply psychological, providing rich insights into sitter and photographer alike. Among other qualities, Van Der Zee's pictures reveal his romanticism and unashamed sentimentality. Asked to photograph the funeral of Blanche Powell (sister of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.), he deemed the picture incomplete until he had double-printed the image of Blanche, herself, towering above the choir. Such combination printing and the deft use of the air brush were hallmarks of Van Der Zee's technique. But if such manipulated compositions project a ``period piece aura, many of Van Der Zee's ``straighter efforts are as contemporary now as when they were made. Indeed, the straight portrait of Blanche Powell, from which the overprint was made, is a lovely image of a charming young woman. However, Van Der Zee's photographs inhabit two realms of importance. They are a record of the life's work of one of America's first great Black photographers. At the same time, they are an historical archive, a picture of Harlem in an era in which that name conjured visions of jazz, art, and literature, not grinding poverty and occasional rebellion. Intristing Facts Some famous people photographed by VanDerZee were William "Bojangles" Robinson, the Mills Brothers, Mamie Smith, and Hazel Scott. In addition, VanDerZee took famous shots of several boxers, including Joe Louis, heavyweight champion Jack Johnson, featherweight champion Kid Chocolate, and heavyweight Sam Langford. Religious leaders also played a very important role in Harlem, and VanDerZee photographed influential Baptist minister Adam Clayton Powell, Sr., his son, Adam, Jr., the engimatic cult leader Father Divine, and Daddy Grace, among others.VanDerZee's many images of women reveal his romantic, tender side. In addition to portraits, he shot some discreetly posed nudes and photographed models in bathing suits, contemporary fashions, and furs. Women also appeared in wedding portraits and numerous family portraits. Perry suggested that "some pictures of women and children in the early Lenox family portraits and later studio work represent loving, gentle Madonna images."By: LiL' Lax Bro k3a-b Citations and Extra research

Authors last name- Englebert, Philis Tital of book- African American BiographyPlace of publication- United States Year of publication- 2001 Medium of publication- print

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"James VanDerZee." Contemporary Black Biography. Vol. 6. Detroit: Gale, 1994. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 18 Feb. 2011. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Document URL http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Reference&prodId=BIC1&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CK1606000545&mode=view&userGroupName=scschools&jsid=71ba25cabc31012701ab36b743b18a6a

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Harlem on My Mind: Cultural Capital of Black America 1900-1968, exhibition catalogue, edited by Allon Schoener, New York 1969 <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Photographs: Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery Collection, University of Nebraska, with an introduction by Norman A. Geske, Lincoln 1977 <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The Legacy of James Van Der Zee: A Portrait of Black Americans, exhibition catalogue, with a preface by Gino Rodriguez, foreword by Robert W. Brown, New York 1977 <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The Photograph Collector's Guide by Lee D. Witkin and Barbara London, Boston and London 1979 <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Lichtbildnisse: Das Porträt in der Fotografie, edited by Klaus Honnef, Cologne 1982 <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The Library of World Photography: Portraits, with introduction by Colin Ford, Tokyo 1982, 1983, London 1983 <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Harlem Renaissance: Art of Black America, with introduction by Mary Schmidt Campbell, New York 1987 <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Van Der Zee: Photographer 1886-1983, by Deborah Willis-Braithwaite, New York and London, 1994. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">﻿Photo citations

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Photograph of Couple in Harlem, 1932 by James Van Der Zee. Corbis, 2006. Image. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">16 February 2011. <http://www.discoveryeducation.com/>.