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Photographer James VanDerZeeis famous for his portraits and other innovative work during the Harlem Renaissance.
By BRANDY STARK
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 22, 2001
James VanDerZee holds a special place in history as one of the leading African-American photographers to record the black experience during the Harlem Renaissance. VanDerZee used his status as a Harlem insider to imbue his works with a sensitivity and sense of pride that can only be found through experience.
"James VanDerZee: The Harlem Years," currently on display at the Tampa Museum of Art, features approximately 40 of his black and white photographs taken during the height of the renaissance, roughly from 1920 into the late 1930s.
Born in 1886 in Lenox, Mass., VanDerZee had a career that spanned nearly a century. As a young boy he was given a mail-order camera, which he taught himself to use. Before opening his first studio in 1917, he supported himself as a violinist at a theater, playing music to accompany silent films. All the while, he was working on his photographic skills, adding personal touches to his portraits and experimenting with techniques.
For nearly 50 years, his studio hosted prominent citizens, socialites, and political and religious leaders from the black community. Renaissance Big Five Basketball Team, 1925, depicts one of the first professional black basketball teams. As it toured the country, the team faced racism and segregation, yet still gained a reputation as a good team with a clean playing style. In Portrait of Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, taken around 1933, the famous tap dancer is shown in a double portrait. Portrait of Jack Johnson Signing a Contract with Frank Schiffman for an Appearance at the Apollo Theater, 1933, captures the first black heavyweight world champion.
VanDerZee traveled throughout his community recording local events on film. One photo, Tea Time at Madame C.J. Walker's Beauty Salon, shows a meeting at the business of C.J. Walker, who became a millionaire selling salon products after being widowed at a young age. Couple at Harlem, 1932, may be one of his best-known works. It shows a fashionable couple dressed in raccoon coats posing in front of their Cadillac convertible. These images, among others, show a sense of well-being and prosperity in the community.
Other works show VanDerZee's experimentation with photographic techniques, to stunning effect. The Last Good-bye, Overseas, 1923, contains a wartime cartoon superimposed onto a portrait of a soldier. By using the double-exposure technique, VanDerZee creates the sensation that the viewer sees the soldier's thoughts as he contemplates lost companions.
Future Expectations (Wedding Day, Harlem) implies a happier message by utilizing the same technique. A young bride and groom are posed before a fireplace. Next to them is a dream-like image of a girl, their future daughter, who holds a doll in her lap. In a subtle addition to his portrait, VanDerZee etched onto the negative of the film two hearts linked together, appearing inside the fireplace.
Nude, Harlem, 1923 shows a beautiful woman carefully posed as she basks in the glow of a fire. But the fire is actually a part of a painted backdrop, the effect of a warm glow created by the skillful use of lighting.
Even at a museum that often features photography, this show is special, said museum spokeswoman Lani Czyzewski.
"James VanDerZee is an extremely well-known portrait photographer. Technically, his works are very good. His subject matter is interesting, innovative, and also preserves a sense of historic acuity," she said.
"Yet, the photographs maintain a sense of his personality in the way he takes the ordinary to create the extraordinary through his use of technique and his artistic vision."
"James VanDerZee: The Harlem Years," through April 15 at the Tampa Museum of Art, 600 N Ashley Drive, Tampa. Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues., Wed., Fri., Sat., 10 a.m. -- 8 p.m. Thurs., 1-5 p.m. Sunday. Admission: $5 adults, $4 seniors over 62, and $3 students and children over 6. Call (813) 274-8130.