... The third chapter reframes James Van Der Zee's talent, and the elements of his work that are considered notable, by examining the application of his talent to other people's work. During the 1940s and 1950s, Van Der Zee invited his clients to bring or send him their photographs made by other...

... With few exceptions, scholars have long positioned James Van Der Zee as a singular phenomenon. Framing Van Der Zee as the only one—through the kind of selectivity and exceptionalism that drives art history—puts him on a deserved pedestal. But by rupturing this framework and suggesting...

... The introduction offers beginning insights into the work of photographer James Van Der Zee and its relationship to the discourses of vernacular photography and art history. The chapter also considers the limitations of framing the photographer within the years of the Harlem Renaissance era...

... This chapter explores images taken by James Van Der Zee during the summer of 1924, when he served as the official photographer for Marcus Garvey, the Pan-African leader of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). It considers the format, arrangement, and circulation of Van Der Zee's...

... This chapter considers the “rediscovery” of James Van Der Zee's photographs in the late 1960s and the implications of their display in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's 1969 Harlem on My Mind exhibition, a highly criticized show. It centers the recollections of two young Black individuals who...