"A biography of James Van Der Zee, innovative and celebrated African American photographer of the Harlem Renaissance. Includes an afterword, photos, and author's sources"--Publisher.

One of the great American photographers of the 20th century and the leading African-American photographer of his day, James VanDerZee is best remembered as the eyes of the Harlem Renaissance. Reproduced here are many of the thousands of photographs he took in New York's Harlem between the wars. 200 photos.

A biography of the black photographer who has received acclaim for his prints of Harlem.

James Van Der Zee was an African-American photographer who specialized in funerals. This book includes many of his photographs, with his comments. The text, by Camille Billops, is primarily an interview with the artist at the age of 91. Includes poetry, by Owen Dodson, inspired by some of the photos.

Accompanying the much-publicized exhibition of the same name that will be traveling throughout the nation over the next two years, this selection presents works from the renowned collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the nation's greatest repository of African American art. From Faith Ringgold's fabric interpretation of the Harlem Renaissance to Gordon Parks's celebrated 1996 photograph of Muhammad Ali, the paintings, sculptures, and photographs reproduced here--full-page and in color--reflect the rich and varied experience of African American artists in the 20th century. Coverage ranges from pioneer works created early in the century, when African Americans were actively discouraged from becoming artists, to important pieces from the Harlem Renaissance, to modern and contemporary selections by today's well-established artists. A few highlights include Roy DeCarava's 1949 photograph Graduation, Romare Bearden's 1974 collage Empress of the Blues, and works by the noted African American sculptor Augusta Savage and assemblage artist Betye Saar. The text--informative commentaries on the individual pictures and creators--completes this wonderful introduction to an important chapter in the history of American art.

James Van Der Zee is among the best artists to have ever come out of America. Learn about his photographs, his life, and his impact.

Photography does more than simply represent the world. It acts in the world, connecting people to form relationships and shaping relationships to create communities. In this beautiful book, Margaret Olin explores photography’s ability to “touch” us through a series of essays that shed new light on photography’s role in the world. Olin investigates the publication of photographs in mass media and literature, the hanging of exhibitions, the posting of photocopied photographs of lost loved ones in public spaces, and the intense photographic activity of tourists at their destinations. She moves from intimate relationships between viewers and photographs to interactions around larger communities, analyzing how photography affects the way people handle cataclysmic events like 9/11. Along the way, she shows us James VanDerZee’s Harlem funeral portraits, dusts off Roland Barthes’s family album, takes us into Walker Evans and James Agee’s photo-text Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, and logs onto online photo albums. With over one hundred illustrations, Touching Photographs is an insightful contribution to the theory of photography, visual studies, and art history.