As featured in February 1997
The Beauty Others Missed
A Photographic Mission
and Spotlight Story on Don Camp's Vision of Nobility
They are the giants among African-American men and women who chart black life through the lens. That is why this presentation on the importance of such artists to our culture cannot begin without giving tribute to the late James VanDerZee, the late Moneta Sleet, and Gordon Parks.
To say their work bares the heart of the African-American experience for all Americans to see is an understatement. To cast their photographic legacies as more than a reach for personal fulfillment is a deception. They are agents of African-American pride who looked upon the masses of a darker hue through the camera's eye and saw the beauty others missed.
Gordon Parks
Gordon Parks has been called a "poet of the camera." His interest in photography began in the early 1930s when he purchased his first camera, as a "weapon against poverty and racism." He used his camera to capture scenes of Chicago's South Side, and the Depression-era and World War II photographs for the Farm Security Administration and Office of War Information.
From 1948 to 1969, he was a staff photographer for Life magazine, where
he produced powerful photographic essays on the Nation of Islam, Harlem
gang members, and a pictorial on Flavio, the Brazilian child from the slums
who Parks later brought to the United States. Parks also incorporated aspects
of the art of photographic expression throughout his remarkable career as
a motion picture director, symphonic composer, painter, poet, and writer.
"Moments Without Proper Names," an exhibition of 52 black-and-white photographs reflecting a broad range of works by Parks, is on display at the Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum (AAHCM), through March 31, 1997. The exhibit presents views of life from European royalty to the slums of Harlem. Portraits of important black leaders are contrasted with rural inhabitants of Kansas, Alabama, and Mississippi. Each photograph is uniquely personal and reflects the universality of Gordon Parks' human vision.
James VanDerZee
Born in 1886, James VanDerZee was the "official photographer"
of the Harlem Renaissance, a portion of history representing the discovery
of self pride in African-American literary and musical creativity, where
he also participated as a musician sitting in with the Fletcher Henderson
band. VanDerZee turned 80 before the greatness of his work and its valuable
collection of historic photographs of Harlem were selected for display in
the Metropolitan Museum of Art's exhibit, "Harlem On My Mind."
Opening his first photography studio on 135th Street, VanDerZee's business prospered as Harlem entrusted their visual records of weddings, social life, and deaths in his care. He created fully documented photographic records of three of the most remembered black messiahs--Daddy Grace, Father Divine, and the black consciousness movement of Marcus Garvey. VanDerZee captured beautiful black women and handsome black men and pretty black children, pleated and pressed in their Sunday best, who through his lens rose above the poverty of their daily existence to display their true gifts of promise.
Moneta Sleet, Jr.
As a staff photographer for Ebony magazine, Moneta Sleet Jr. was an
advocate for the black community. Any discussion of civil rights photography
must include Sleet's photography. Working for Ebony allowed him to record
the Civil Rights Movement from its peaceful demonstrations to rebellion-ravaged
cities. For his first civil rights assignment, Sleet covered the 1956 bus
boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, and introduced its leader, Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. This attachment to Dr. King continued as Sleet recorded the indomitable
courage of demonstrators during the Selma March. On some assignments he
not only represented Ebony, but the black press. Such was the case when
he accompanied Martin Luther King Jr. to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in
1964, and again as the only member of the black press allowed inside the
church during the funeral service for Dr. King, where he produced the Pulitzer
Prize-winning image of Bernice and Coretta Scott King at the memorial service.
The framing and focus of that shot of King's widow and baby daughter, focused
the viewer's attention and empathy on the family's grief. During his lifetime,
Sleet stayed true to what he felt his mission should be, "to show the
side that was the right side."
These men are neither the beginning nor the end of an artistic tradition. Yet, their images remain a standard to which a long line of professionals aspire. They are an inspiration to every black person who has opened a book of pictures of blacks and every young African-American boy and girl who wanted to make a difference in their lives with a camera.
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