Get To Know: James Van Der Zee

The story is oft-told. Saving up to buy a box camera as a youth started a hobby that turned into a profession. Years as a darkroom and as a photographer’s assistant resulted in the1916 opening of James Van Der Zee’s Guarantee Photo Studio in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood. As the economy improved and the Harlem Renaissance blossomed, the studio became “the” studio for families, politicians, and performers. Capturing the changes in the neighborhood over the decades resulted in books about his photos—and also himself—and an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

According to a New York Times report, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Studio Museum in Harlem agreed to share ownership of the Van Der Zee archive in 2021. The archive consists of approximately 20,000 prints and 30,000 negatives. Click here for the full story.

The image below was found on the Philadelphia Museum’s Facebook page. Made in his home, the print shows Mr. Van Der Zee next to his wife, Gaynella. Many of the photographs on the walls are his own.

"Self-Portrait with Gaynella" (detail), 1954, by James VanDerZee © Donna Mussenden Van Der Zee http://ow.ly/EJX830qRkNq