James Van Der Zee: Capturing the Spirit of Harlem and Beyond
Photography is often described as a way to freeze time, but for James Van Der Zee, it was much more than that. His images didn’t just capture faces; they told stories, celebrated achievements, and preserved a vision of Harlem at its cultural peak. For decades, he was Harlem’s most sought-after photographer, known for his carefully composed portraits that gave everyday people the kind of elegance and grandeur usually reserved for Hollywood stars. His career spanned nearly a century, from the early 1900s to the 1980s, and today, his photographs are some of the most important visual records of Black American life in the 20th century.
Born into a world where Black artistry was often overlooked, Van Der Zee built a reputation for meticulous, glamorous portraiture that uplifted his subjects, giving them a sense of grandeur often denied by mainstream society. His photographs weren’t just about Harlem’s middle class; they were about its hopes, dreams, and dignity.
A Young Artist in Lenox, Massachusetts
James Van Der Zee was born on June 29, 1886, in Lenox, Massachusetts, a small town in the Berkshire Mountains. His parents, Elizabeth and John Van Der Zee, had lived through enslavement in Virginia before settling in New England. John worked as a waiter and butler, while Elizabeth took care of the home. The Van Der Zee family was well-respected in Lenox, and James grew up in a tight-knit Black community.
From an early age, Van Der Zee showed remarkable artistic talent. His first love was music, and he dreamed of becoming a professional violinist. He was also a skilled pianist, and in his teenage years, he helped form a small group called the Harlem Orchestra, where he performed regularly.
But music wasn’t the only creative pursuit that captured his imagination. In 1900, as a teenager, he received his first camera—a small, inexpensive box camera—and was instantly hooked. He taught himself how to develop film, turning part of his parents’ home into a makeshift darkroom. Before long, he was photographing family members, neighbours, and scenes from everyday life in Lenox. He didn’t realise it at the time, but he was already creating a photographic archive of a small Black New England town—something few others had thought to do.
The Move to Harlem and the Shift to Photography
In 1906, at age 20, Van Der Zee left Lenox and moved to Harlem, New York City, with his father and brother. Harlem was not yet the bustling centre of Black culture it would become, but it was growing rapidly. Van Der Zee initially worked as a waiter and elevator operator, supporting himself while continuing to play music.
A year later, in 1907, he married Kate L. Brown, and the young couple moved back to Lenox for a short time to start a family. Their daughter, Rachel, was born that September, and they later moved to Phoebus, Virginia, where Van Der Zee tried to support his family. Tragically, their second child, Emile, was born in 1908 but died of pneumonia before his first birthday. The loss devastated the couple, and before long, Van Der Zee left Virginia, eventually settling in Newark, New Jersey, in 1915.
It was in Newark that his love for photography turned into something more than a hobby. He found work at a portrait studio, first as a darkroom assistant and later as a portraitist. It was here that he learned the business of photography, gaining experience in lighting, composition, and retouching—skills that would define his later work. That same year, he converted to Catholicism and began taking assignments from the Catholic Church, photographing religious ceremonies and community events.
The following year, in 1916, he returned to Harlem, just as the Great Migration was transforming the neighbourhood into the heart of Black culture in America. Hundreds of thousands of Black Americans from the South were moving into northern cities, seeking new opportunities and freedom from racial violence. Harlem, in particular, became a haven for Black intellectuals, artists, and businesspeople. Van Der Zee arrived at precisely the right moment.
The Guarantee Photo Studio: Documenting Harlem’s Renaissance
In 1916, Van Der Zee and his sister, Jennie Louise Van Der Zee, who ran the Toussaint Conservatory of Art and Music, opened a small photography studio. That same year, he met Gaynella Greenlee, and two years later, they married. Together, they launched the Guarantee Photo Studio on West 125th Street.
Van Der Zee quickly became Harlem’s most sought-after photographer. At a time when Black Americans were often portrayed negatively in the media, his portraits presented a radically different image—one of elegance, pride, and aspiration. His studio work featured carefully arranged props, luxurious backdrops, and stylish clothing. He retouched negatives to smooth skin and enhance features, giving his subjects an almost dreamlike, ethereal quality.
But just as importantly, he photographed everyday Harlem residents—couples, families, church groups, and young professionals. His studio became the place where people came to immortalise their successes. His photos showcased Black Harlem as a community of achievement, resilience, and upward mobility.
Photographing the Harlem Hellfighters
In 1919, Van Der Zee captured one of the most significant moments in Harlem’s history—the victory parade of the 369th Infantry Regiment, better known as the Harlem Hellfighters. This predominantly Black unit had fought heroically in World War I and returned home to Harlem as celebrated war heroes. Van Der Zee’s photographs from the parade remain some of the most iconic images of Black military service in the early 20th century.
Decline and Rediscovery
By the early 1930s, Van Der Zee’s business began to struggle. The Great Depression hit Harlem hard, and many of his middle-class customers could no longer afford studio portraits. The rise of inexpensive, mass-market cameras also meant that more people were taking their own photos.
To make ends meet, he continued taking funeral portraits, a tradition in which families would commission professional photographs of deceased loved ones. These images were often composed with great care, sometimes featuring superimposed angelic imagery to evoke a sense of transcendence. Many of these photographs were later collected in his book The Harlem Book of the Dead (1978), which featured a foreword by Toni Morrison.
His work might have been forgotten entirely if not for a chance encounter in the late 1960s. In 1969, Van Der Zee’s photographs were featured in the Harlem on My Mind exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His rediscovery sparked a renewed interest in his work, and he was soon celebrated as one of America’s great photographers.
Jean-Michel Basquiat
James Van Der Zee's Legacy
Even in his 90s, Van Der Zee continued to photograph. In 1982, at the age of 96, he took a portrait of Jean-Michel Basquiat for Interview magazine, linking the Harlem Renaissance to the new generation of Black artists.
He passed away on May 15, 1983, in Washington, D.C., leaving behind a body of work that remains one of the most important visual records of Black life in the early 20th century.
Today, James Van Der Zee’s legacy lives on, not just in museums and galleries but in the countless family photo albums that still hold his work.
