Honoring Professional Photographers of the Past: James Van Der Zee

Mr. James Van Der Zee

James Van Der Zee was a famous, African-American photographer born June 29, 1886 in Lenox, Massachusetts. Van Der Zee moved to Harlem, New York where he took small jobs here and there and worked as a darkroom assistant. This would then lead to his learning the fundamentals of photography and then going on to open his own photography studio in Harlem in 1916. 

Marcus Garvey being transported
through Harlem.

Van Der Zee photographed people from all walks of life -from the poor to the many black celebrities who would pass through Harlem. Though most of his work was done indoors, occasionally Van Der Zee would wander out amongst the people of the city to capture the social setting as well. 


In 1969, Van Der Zee's work was featured in an exhibition, Harlem on My Mind, which featured 75,000 of his photographs. He was known for photographing weddings and funerals for families


James Van Der Zee died in 1983. Enjoy our feature of photos taken by James Van Der Zee!!