Roy DeCarava has died - photographer, spent most of his life documenting Harlem

[The Straight Story]

Roy DeCarava, photographer in black and white
Matt Schudel

Roy DeCarava, one of America's great photographers, has died at the age of 89. He spent much of his life documenting his native Harlem, only he wouldn't have used the term "documenting."

He considered himself an artist whose medium happened to be photography and consciously steered away from the journalistic and documentary traditions of photography. He sought to bring a sense of artistic understanding to the lives of his fellow Harlem residents, imbuing them with dignity, pathos and character that reach beyond their social circumstances.

DeCarava did freelance work for magazines, but he was never a journalistic photographer in the way that, say, Gordon Parks and W. Eugene Smith were photojournalists. (DeCarava had a long dispute with Parks over whether Life magazine, Parks's employer, discriminated against black photographers.)

DeCarava brought a profound sensibility to his work that is distinctive, original and entirely his own. He shot entirely in black and white, which some critics have seen as somehow representative of his views about the stark social divisions in American life. (DeCarava was a sensitive and dignified man who faced considerable bias during his lifetime.)

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postmortem/2009/10/roy-decarava-photographer-in-b.html

25 of his photos:
http://listicles.thelmagazine.com/2009/10/25-haunting-roy-decarava-photos-of-harlem/

[Kurovski]

1. K&R. (nt)

[Kurovski]

2. Kick. (nt)

[flying rabbit]

3. Awesome work. n/t