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A review by alinaborger
Take a Picture of Me, James Van Der Zee! by Andrea J. Loney
5.0
Wow—! What a book this is, and what a LIFE James Van Der Zee led!
PB biographies often have a thread or a theme that they pull on to help the narrative hold together. This book focuses on how JV works to “make everyone look their best” —from bringing out natural smiles and expressions to adjusting things in the darkroom.
This is an especially powerful thread because, as the back matter explains, photographs of black folks at the time were often of migrant laborers or urban poor.
I highly recommend looking up some of his art after reading this remarkable book.
PB biographies often have a thread or a theme that they pull on to help the narrative hold together. This book focuses on how JV works to “make everyone look their best” —from bringing out natural smiles and expressions to adjusting things in the darkroom.
This is an especially powerful thread because, as the back matter explains, photographs of black folks at the time were often of migrant laborers or urban poor.
I highly recommend looking up some of his art after reading this remarkable book.