Roy DeCarava facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Roy DeCarava
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| Born |
Roy Rudolph DeCarava
December 9, 1919 Harlem Hospital
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| Died | October 27, 2009 (aged 89) |
| Known for | fine-art photography |
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Notable work
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The Sound I Saw, The Sweet Flypaper of Life |
| Awards | Guggenheim Fellowship, National Medal of Arts |
Roy Rudolph DeCarava (born December 9, 1919 – died October 27, 2009) was an American artist. He was famous for his amazing photography. Roy DeCarava took pictures of African Americans and jazz musicians. He showed their lives in the places where he lived and worked.
For almost 60 years, DeCarava was known as a leader in black and white fine art photography. He believed that photography should show a person's own feelings and ideas. This was different from the "social documentary" style that just showed facts.
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Early Life and Learning
Roy DeCarava was born in Harlem, New York, on December 9, 1919. He grew up during the Harlem Renaissance. This was a time when African American artists created many great works in writing, music, theater, and visual arts.
After finishing Textile High School in New York City in 1938, Roy started working as an artist on his own. He also studied at Cooper Union from 1938 to 1940. There, he learned about painting, architecture, and sculpture. He continued his studies at the Harlem Art Center (1940–1942) and the George Washington Carver Art School. At these schools, he painted and also tried printmaking.
Roy first used photography to record his paintings. But he loved it so much that he spent all his time on it. He became a champion for black and white silver gelatin photography as its own art form. He used his camera to take striking pictures of everyday black life in Harlem. He captured the different feelings of the neighborhood and the creative energy of the Harlem Renaissance.
DeCarava wanted to show black people in a serious and artistic way. He felt they were not always shown like that.
In 1942, DeCarava joined the Army. He was sent to Virginia and then to Fort Claiborne, Louisiana. This area had very strict rules about racial segregation. Roy faced such strong racism there that it affected his health. He later said he had nightmares about it for 20 years.
Roy DeCarava was married for 40 years to Sherry Turner DeCarava, who was an art historian. They worked together on art shows and books. After he passed away, she continued to share his work.
A Career in Fine Art Photography
Roy DeCarava created five art books. These include The Sound I Saw and The Sweet Flypaper of Life. He also had his work shown in important museum catalogs and special art shows. These shows were put on by the Friends of Photography and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
He had at least 15 solo art exhibitions. Roy DeCarava was the first African-American photographer to win a Guggenheim Fellowship. This award allowed him to photograph his community and New York City for one year. He used the black and white silver gelatin process to show his early creative ideas.
His first photo exhibit was in 1950, at the Forty-Fourth Street Gallery in New York City. Soon after, he found a mentor in Edward Steichen. Steichen was the director of photography at the Museum of Modern Art.
Over time, DeCarava became known for his dedication to visual art. He created many unique black and white photographs of famous American musicians. His work also appeared on several record album covers. These included Porgy and Bess by Miles Davis, Bless this House by Mahalia Jackson, Flamenco Fire by Carlos Montoya, and Big Bill's Blues by Big Bill Broonzy.
Roy DeCarava received special degrees from many schools for his contributions to American art. These schools included Rhode Island School of Design and Wesleyan University.
In 2006, he received the National Medal of Arts from the National Endowment for the Arts. This is the highest award the United States Government gives to artists.
DeCarava wanted to help other fine art photographers. He believed that photography should be easy for everyone to access. From 1955 to 1957, he opened A Photographer's Gallery in his apartment. He paid for it himself. This gallery showed art by famous American photographers of that time.
In 1963, he helped start the Kamoinge Workshop. This group was based in Harlem and supported black photographers. They did this through exhibitions, public events, group critiques, and published photo collections. He also taught for many years at Hunter College.
In 1972, DeCarava received the Benin Creative Photography Award. This was for his work as a creative photographer and his help to the black community. He also received awards from Cooper Union in 1996 and 2007. He was added to the Cooper Union Hall of Fame in 2009.
Roy DeCarava passed away in New York City on October 27, 2009.
Art Shows and Exhibitions
- 1950 – One-person photography show at Forty-Fourth Street Gallery, New York City
- 1951 – One-person photography show at Countee Cullen Branch Library, New York City
- 1953 – "Always the Young Stranger" at the Museum of Modern Art, New York City
- 1955 – "Family of Man" at the Museum of Modern Art, New York City
- 1957 – "70 Photographers Look at New York" at the Museum of Modern Art, New York City
- 1960 – "New Acquisitions" at the Museum of Modern Art, New York City
- 1964 – "The Photographer's Eye" at the Museum of Modern Art, New York City
- 1965 – "Edward Steichen Center/Fine Art Photographs" at the Museum of Modern Art, New York City
- 1965 – "Photography in the Fine Arts #1" at the Museum of Modern Art, New York City
- 1969 – "Thru Black Eyes" at the Studio Museum, Harlem
- 1970 – "Roy DeCarava/Photographs" at the Sheldon Memorial Art Center, University of Nebraska
- 1974 – "Photography in America" at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City
- 1976 – "The Nation's Capital in Photographs" at The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
Art Collections
DeCarava's work is kept in many public art collections. These are places where his art is shown permanently:
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- The Museum of Modern Art, New York
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
- Andover Art Gallery, Andover-Phillips Academy, Massachusetts
- Atlanta University, Georgia
- Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc., New York
- Belafonte Enterprises, Inc., New York
- Detroit Institute of Arts
- Portland Art Museum
- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
- The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
- Philadelphia Museum of Art
- Museum of Fine Arts Boston
- Harvard Art Museums
- Stanford University Cantor Arts Center
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
