Footsteps articles from November 2005

Footsteps archives from November 2005

Harlem's Photographer.(James VanDerZee)
November 1, 2005... Without a doubt, James VanDerZee is rightfully called "Harlem's Photographer." His unique, uplifting, black-and-white photos tell the story of Harlem in the years that preceded the Stock Market Crash of 1929. For many people in the United...

A career begins.(James VanDerZee)(Biography)
November 1, 2005... James VanDerZee was born in 1886 in the small western Massachusetts town of Lenox. His parents owned their home, grew their own vegetables, and raised livestock and chickens. James, who was the second oldest, and his siblings--Jennie,...

Photos by guarantee.(James VanDerZee's photography techniques)
November 1, 2005... James VanDerZee's ability to record the dignity of black life in Harlem through his camera lens made him a prominent figure in the African American community. When VanDerZee decided to leave Virginia in 1908, he looked to Harlem as the...

Setting the scene: VanDerZee's meticulous darkroom work, as well as his techniques, including retouching, added a psychological dimension and a dreamlike quality to many of his everyday photographs.(James Augustus VanDerZee)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... VanDerZee photographed the famous as well as the ordinary, and strove to make his pictures, as he said, "better looking than the person." As a result, each sensitively revealed its subject with artfully chosen props and painted backdrops. ...

Master at manipulation: at a time when unflattering and disrespectful images of African Americans were common in the media, James VanDerZee dedicated his life to making portraits that portrayed his clients in a positive, dignified manner.
November 1, 2005... Whether photographing Harlem's celebrities, politicians, soldiers, or neighborhood folks, VanDerZee applied clever photographic techniques to ensure that he portrayed all his subjects--regardless of gender, age, class, or race--in their best...

Shooting in black & white: have you ever looked at a black-and-white photograph and wondered why the photographer did not use color?
November 1, 2005... Today, because of the widespread popularity of color processing and digital photography, black-and-white photography has become a rare art form. Nevertheless, black-and-white photography remains a classic and dramatic way of capturing an image....

Manipulating a photo.(James VanDerZee's photomaking techniques)
November 1, 2005... James VanDerZee was popular because of his subjects--people from his community in Harlem--and because of his techniques. In some instances, he enhanced his black-and-white photos by manipulating them after he shot them. Today, we can still...

Working at 90: fashion trends changed drastically between the mid-1940s and the late 1970s, and fewer clients visited VanDerZee's studio for portraits.(James Augustus VanDerZee)
November 1, 2005... The once-lively address of 272 Lenox Avenue quieted, and economic challenges threatened to overwhelm VanDerZee and Gaynella. In 1967, a potential source of relief wandered into the studio: a young photographer named Reginald McGhee. The...

VanDerZee's Legacy.(James VanDerZee)
November 1, 2005... A photograph is "good" when it inspires us to reconsider ourselves and ponder the ways we are connected to everything and to each other. "Good" photographs are full of wonder waiting to be discovered. They remind us in so many ways of what is...

Meet Mrs. VanDerZee: for this issue of FOOTSTEPS, Lowery Stokes Sims, the president of The Studio Museum in Harlem, spoke with James VanDerZee's widow, Donna Mussenden VanDerZee.(Donna VanDerZee)(Interview)
November 1, 2005... Lowery Stokes Sims: How and when did you first meet James VanDerZee? Donna VanDerZee: I met VanDerZee in August of 1975. We were introduced by a mutual friend named Joe Black. He was an architect who was taking a car trip through Harlem...

The 'Picture-takin' Man' of Harlem: it is the summer of 1977, and James VanDerZee is about to turn 91.
November 1, 2005... Remembering James VanDerZee In 1977, I was a young man who loved photography. So when I heard that .lames VanDerZee was coming to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, I jumped at the chance to accompany him while he was in town. Pittsburgh...

Photo fit.(James VanDerZee' photomaking)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... James VanDerZee created photographs by carefully going over each negative. Now, try your hand at carefully checking the list at the bottom of the page and fitting each word into the grid. When you're done, read the highlighted squares from top...

New York's Harlem: Harlem remains one of the most celebrated sections of New York City.(Editorial)
November 1, 2005... Its history as a hub of black art, politics, and culture is known around the world. Harlem is located in the uppermost section of the New York island borough of Manhattan. Stretching from around 96th Street on the city's East Side and 110th on...

Lenox Lounge's Alvin Reed: the date of this issue of FOOTSTEPS, November 2005, is a memorable one for Harlem's historic Lenox Lounge and for its owner, Alvin Reed. This year marks the 65th birthday of each.(reflections and memories)
November 1, 2005... Imagine a place where jazz musicians and blues singers played live music and people danced until the sun came up. That's the Lenox Lounge, a place that is as exciting today as it was when it first opened on November 11, 1939. Sometimes I...

Giving dignity to children.(James VanDerZee's photographs in Walter Dean Myers' books)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Walter Dean Myers has written more than 80 books for children and teens. Many of them are filled with photographs that he has collected from the 1800s and 1900s. Several years ago, when he was talking with a group of black teens, he...

Let's find out.(William Johnson )(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... * William Johnson (1809-1851) kept a diary for the last 16 years of his life. The former slave recorded items of personal and business interest: births, deaths, weddings, parades, jailbreaks, and epidemics in Natchez, Mississippi. Johnson...

Fellow photographers: through his camera's lens, James VanDerZee recorded the spirit and people of Harlem for more than 50 years.
November 1, 2005... His photographs document the daily happenings associated with Harlem's emerging black middle class, as well as special occasions such as birthdays, weddings, baptisms, and recitals. In addition to capturing images of the local community, this...

African Americans in the news: past and present.(Jules Lion, James Presley Ball, Augustus Washington )(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Photo Pioneers Early Records African Americans have been active in photography since the daguerreotype was introduced in 1839. Jules Lion (1810-1866), a free man of color, came to New Orleans, Louisiana, from his native France, where...

Expanding the walls.(The Studio Museum in Harlem )
November 1, 2005... The Studio Museum in Harlem (SMH) launched an exciting community-oriented program in 2001. Titled "Expanding the Walls: Making Connections Between Photography, History, and Community," it uses the museum's James VanDerZee Collection to share...

'Reading' VanDerZee.(James VanDerZee )
November 1, 2005... by "Expanding the Walls" Students CHECK OUT WHAT STUDENTS IN THE STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM'S "EXPANDING THE WALLS" PROGRAM (SEE PAGES 42-43) HAVE TO SAY ABOUT JAMES VANDERZEE'S PHOTOS. AFTER READING EACH IMAGE EVALUATION, THINK ABOUT WHAT...

Art by African-American Artists: Selections from the 20th Century, A Resource for Educators.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... Art by African-American Artists: Selections from the 20th Century: A Resource for Educators, by The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2003, www.met.org) includes James VanDerZee among the artisans whose work, style, and...

Reflections in Black.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... Reflections in Black, by Deborah Willis (W.W. Norton, 2000, www.wwnorton.com), chronicles the lives and works of black photographers from 1840 to the present. Divided into chapters by decades, it introduces a period with an overview, followed...

VanDerZee, Photographer: 1886-1983.(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... VanDerZee, Photographer: 1886-1983, by Deborah Willis-Braithwaite and Rodger C. Birt (Abrams, 1993, www.abramsbooks.com) offers an accurate, well-written biography of Harlem's master photographer, accompanied by an excellent and comprehensive...

Cobblestone resources.
November 1, 2005... The following issues of FOOTSTEPS and its sister magazine COBBLESTONE complement this issue on "Harlem's Photographer, James VanDerZee," and are available from Cobblestone Publishing: Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance (FTP0403) ...

On the net.
November 1, 2005... To learn more about Harlem between 1900 and 1940, check out the Schomburg Center's informative Web site at: www.si.umich.edu/CHICO/Harlem/ Want to take a virtual tour of Harlem, meet today's residents, find out about upcoming events? Go...

2 friends.(Anthony Barboza's extraordinary works)(Interview)
November 1, 2005... New York City master photographer and visual arts professor Anthony Barboza (left) has been in the photography business for more than 40 years. His catalog, which holds thousands of pictures taken in thousands of different styles and housing...