Roy DeCarava

Roy DeCarava (December 9, 1919 – October 27, 2009) was an American artist. In one of the longest careers in the field of fine art photography, DeCarava produced five major books, including The Sound I Saw and The Sweet Flypaper of Life as well as landmark museum catalogues and retrospective surveys from the Friends of Photography and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The subject of at least 15 single artist exhibitions, DeCarava was the first African American photographer to win a Guggenheim Fellowship and in 2006, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts from the National Endowment for the Arts, the highest award given to artists by the United States Government.

Biography

Roy DeCarava was born in New York City in 1919, the only child of Elfreda Ferguson. The family lived in many areas of New York City during DeCarava's youth, including Harlem. Engaging formal study in fine art painting from a young age, DeCarava applied and was admitted to the Cooper Union in Manhattan. He left the program after two years to attend classes at the Harlem Art Center. Deciding early on that he wanted to be an artist, DeCarava began working as a professional illustrator and painter. He took up photography as an aide to his artwork. Increasingly, he was drawn to photography full time by “the directness of the medium,” and soon found himself communicating the themes and ideas of his paintings photographically. In 1955, DeCarava opened a New York City art gallery and exhibition space, pioneering an effort to win recognition for photography as a fine art; the gallery remained open for over two years.

At this time many still regarded photography as a documentary medium. DeCarava, however, never considered himself part of this photojournalistic tradition. Rather his work is creative, personal and hearkens to the intense visual imagery and tones that influenced him as an early painter and graphic artist. He cherished the people, places, and events in his pictures and early on developed the means to express his esthetic control. He photographed using only ambient light, printed each image by hand, coaxing a full range of gray tonalities out of each subject with careful attention to unique atmospheric qualities and the intrinsic visual resources within each image.

The strong lines, extraordinarily rich tonality, and exploration of light in DeCarava's work charge his photographs and harken back to his training in classical painting, always illuminating never obliterating a powerful human presence.

DeCarava worked to support himself throughout his artistic career, including taking several editorial photographer assignments. However he always kept his artwork strictly separate from commercial photography. DeCarava felt very strongly about maintaining the artistic integrity of his images, and eventually gave up magazine and freelance work in order to teach fine art black-and-white photography at Hunter College in New York City. He was named Distinguished Professor of Art by the City University of New York in 1994. In 2001, he received the Gold Medal in Photography from the National Arts Club. In 2006, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts from the National Endowment for the Arts, the highest award given to artists by the United States Government.

Roy DeCarava died on October 27th 2009. He is survived by his two sons Leslie Roy (1943) and Vincent Rene (1947) from his first marriage and by his wife of 39 years, art historian and DeCarava Archives director Sherry Turner DeCarava, as well as their three adult daughters Susan, Wendy and Laura.

Works consulted

• [The Sound I Saw][1]. Phaidon Press, 2000
• Roy DeCarava, A Retrospective. Museum of Modern Art New York, NY 1996
• Roy DeCarava, Photographs. Edited by James Alinder, Friends of Photography, 1981.
• Ralph Eugene Meatyard. published by International Center of Photography, 2004, Introduction by Cynthia Young.
• [Thumbnail View] [2]. Luna.

External links

• The Sherry and Roy DeCarava Archives
• Conversations with Roy DeCarava. A film by Carroll Parrot Blue. 1984.
• Masters of Photography: Roy DeCarava
• Museum of Contemporary Photography: Roy DeCarava
• "Roy DeCarava, Harlem Insider Who Photographed Ordinary Life, Dies at 89," New York Times, October 28, 2009
• ROY DeCARAVA Tribute