Roy DeCarava

The saga of the Africans in the Americas—black history—is one of the great stories of the Western world, central to what the United States has been, and what it is now, and one of our most complex and enduring dramas. That story's greatest visual poet in the 20th century was Roy DeCarava, who has just passed, at the age of 89. He was in my opinion one of America's greatest photographers.

He was a black radical to his essence, often bitter out of proportion to his own success and importance, but in his art he was infinitely generous, almost tender, quietly creating an extended lyrical portrait of a people he felt were being ignored and undocumented.

Photography can't show the universal except in the specific, and he found his subject in life in Harlem, often centering around music. His pictures are free of cant and advocacy; they aren't political, they aren't pressed into the service of a message. He gives to his subjects what he always wanted for himself and his work: respect, regard, acceptance.

Like many black and white photographer artists, Mr. DeCarava* created his own tonal palette for his photographs. He chose to print with extremely low contrast and so dark that details often barely emerged from blackness, in what I have always felt was a sort of visual allegory for his feelings about race, pushing both effects past what many observers could accept. So much so that both book publishers and now online sources have chosen to "fix" his intentions for his work by making his pictures more conventionally contrasty, and lightened. The Times' Lens blog has failed in this respect—their presentation of his pictures yesterday accompanying his obituary misrepresents the work. 

Peter Galassi's retrospective, an indisputably great book and one of the finest volumes in my collection (it completely captures me every single time I look through it), treads the edge of this tendency with perfect adroitness, adding just a little of the air of lightness and just a little extra contrast, preserving the feel of Mr. DeCarava's prints while making them easier both to look at and to see.

Roy DeCarava, from Budd Mishkin's NY1 interview

I've long felt that photography—indeed, all art—is partly a matter of personal chemistry, in the same mysterious way that romantic chemistry works. Some work speaks to you and touches you in ways that are visceral and emotional, not just formal and intellectual. Some work matters in ways that obliterates all the noise and haste of rank and disputation and competing claims, and of dense artspeak. I just love Roy DeCarava's work, just love it, and often return to it. It's made me happy that he reached contentment in his old age; he always knew the significance of the great monolith of his life's accomplishment. Tonight I'll put on some of the of the music he loved (Ben Webster's Soulville, maybe, and, naturally, Coltrane) and look through one of my treasured books of his, sending this artist all praise and humble thanks.

Mike

*My policy has long been to refer to everyone by their first names here, under the premise—overly hopeful though it may be—that we are all not only equals but friends in our shared passion for photographs and photography. (A few older, established photographers and éminences grise have indeed objected.) But for some reason I cannot do that with Mr. DeCarava, especially now—he always demanded respect, and was prickly about even its cursory forms. I don't think he would appreciate my calling him by his given name at any time, and especially on this occasion.

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ADDENDUM: Janne Moren has discovered that James Pomerantz has posted Christopher Knight's 1996 L.A. Times review of Roy DeCarava's Retrospective show online.

Featured Comment by Aaron: "Terry Gross of Fresh Air replayed a great interview with Roy DeCarava today: well worth the listen on npr.org."

Comments

[Nikos Kantarakias]

one of my most favorite masters of Photography.. I hope he rests in peace.. his photos are and will be a great lesson and inspiration to many.

[Bron Janulis]

Masters of Photography has some of his images:

http://www.masters-of-photography.com/D/decarava/decarava.html

[Jeff]

I'm really saddened to hear about his passing. I often look at the 1981 book of his work by the Friends of Photography. But, not until I saw an exhibition of his work did I get to appreciate the real beauty, subtlety and mysterious nature of his vintage prints.

I wasn't aware Soulville was one of his favorites...one of mine, too. This would be a good night to put on the fabulous sounding Verve LP.

PS On a minor note (speaking of music), and harking back to one of your earlier posts, you didn't use possessive case before the gerund in your last sentence ("my" calling, not "me"). Sorry, can't resist. But, thanks for the excellent article, Mr. Johnston.

[David Dyer-Bennet]

I'm pretty sure you mean "saga" rather than "sage" in the first sentence there.

[David Dyer-Bennet]

And as to your footnote, a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds (that version is Asimov misquoting Emerson, I believe).

[Jayson Merryfield]

I saw the NYT Lens retrospective pop up in my RSS reader and took some time to enjoy it yesterday. Even displayed on black, with the NYT's modifications, I found the images to be quite dark, almost inexplicably so. I faint to imagine what they must look like at the proper luminance, though I imagine properly printed they have more detail than one would imagine.

Thanks for sharing Mike. I find it hard as a johnny-come-lately to photography to get a full measure of some of these past photographers. There is a breadth of work that is almost staggering to encompass without dedicated study.

The intimate nature of Mr. DeCavara's photography is entrancing, and enviable.

[Ross Gould]

"sage"???? perhaps you mean "saga" (in the opening line)

[Bill McFadden]

Quick, Mike, second word in this post is a bad typo SAGA, not SAGE

[Stan B.]

“My days of bitterness are over because I have the sense enough to know that this is not good for me to be bitter,” says DeCarava.

Mastering that one makes the digital mastery of the previous post small potatoes indeed.

[Patrick]

I'm not sure if it is heart-felt emotion that is making you write so beautifully Mike but whatever it is, you have done Mr DeCarava proud with your contribution to his epitaph. I hadn't heard of him before now but having read this post I am heading off to find out about him.

[John Camp]

It's guys like him that convince you that art photography is even possible -- a thing that I sometimes doubt.

[Andrew Kirk]

Coltrane on Soprano! (See it at Masters of Photography.) Amazing. Thanks, Mike.

[mike]

That video in the link is super, and so is his work.

[Robin Dreyer]

All hail the great Roy DeCarava who could get more image (not to mention soul) out of less exposed silver (in the negative, that is) than any photographer in history.

His book, "The Sound I Saw," which incorporates the photographer's poetry with his poetic photographs of musicians, is one of my all-time favorites.

[Mitch Alland]

Some years ago there was a DeCarava retrospective at the Corcoran in Washington, DC: it was breathtaking and made me discover a great photographer that I had never heard of.

—Mitch/Bangkok

[Janne]

You know, a link to an example of his work would really help us understand what you're talking about, when we're not familiar with the man.

[Rich]

Thank you for comments on DeCarava's work. I found it inspirational when I was learning photography decades ago, and still find it a great source. His images endure, as the best photograph always do.
Rich

[John Taylor]

I must look for his work as i'm quite unfamiliar with it and the little i've seen today speaks only of my lack…
Oh and David that is not Emerson i believe it is G. B. Shaw if not then Oscar Wilde but i'm pretty sure Shaw

[Ben Rosengart]

I am glad to have shared a city with Mr. DeCarava, in some small way.

I've seen his work exhibited, and I keep a copy of _The Sound I Saw_ close to hand. He was a very, very good photographer.

[David Comdico]

Another giant felled. As mentioned, DeCarava's tonal palette was rich aesthetically and in meaning. And he captured the moment in an original way too, often quiet, sometimes brashly, but always poetically. I hope his work may now garner wider appreciation.

[Jon Leatherwood]

Mike, thanks for bringing Roy DeCarava and his work into our collective photo consciousness. Truly one of the giants.

[Sean]

I once had dreams of taking off around the world with my camera to cover war zones and social injustice and returning triumphantly as a hero. Yet I've lacked the courage to record the ending of my working class neighbourhood which is happening before my eyes. It's an anywhere but home mentality that I'd like to free myself of.

I'm bitter and biased about the slow death of my neighbourhood.It's a story that's worthy of photographers like Roy Decarava, Helen Levitt and Harry Callahan. Photographers that knew that there's no place like home.

[Matt Weber]

Well written Mike..."The Sweet Flypaper of Life" has always meant a lot to me, and his work deserves to be mandatory material to those students who want to learn what a camera can do...

[Aaron]

Terry Gross of Fresh Air replayed a great interview with Roy DeCarava today: well worth the listen on npr.org

[David Dyer-Bennet]

John Taylor: Well, Asimov definitely attributed his version to Emerson; but perhaps it's a misattribution as well as a misquotation.

[Mike Johnston]

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think now in hard words, and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day. 'Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood.' Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood."

Ralph Waldo Emerson, from the Essays, First Series, "Self Reliance," 1841.

Mike

[RobG]

I think that Asimov misquote went something like this "Do I contradict myself? Very well, I contradict myself; I am large, I contain multitudes". And I'm pretty sure it was Whitman he was (mis)quoting.

[Derek]

Wow, what a gracious man. I'd seen some of his pictures before but never knew who had photographed them, or even that they were taken by one person. I'm glad to have some context, and will definitely add another book or two to my growing list of TOP recommendations.

Thanks, Mike.

[Tinu]

He was a great photograph and a noble person - an interview, where he said "I see photographs all the time" can be seen here:
http://ny1.com/1-all-boroughs-news-content/78810/one-on-1--for-photographer-roy-decarava--pictures-are-everywhere