Roy DeCarava

Roy Rudolph DeCarava ( born December 9, 1919 in New York City, USA, † October 27, 2009 in Manhattan, New York City, USA ) was an American photographer.

Life

DeCarava was the son of a colored immigrant from Jamaica, in the former British West Indies. The family moved in the 1920s and 1930s, often within the city of New York to, among other things, to Harlem. Early on, the young man discovered his passions for painting. He was admitted to painting at the Cooper Union on the basis of his talent to the study of the subject. This he left after two years of study at the Harlem Art Center to study further. His living he earned in the following years as an illustrator and painter. In addition, he started photography. In 1955 he opened in New York City art gallery, which also could take place exhibitions. This existed for two years.

DeCarava took many a time orders to be photographic representations of certain topics, but looking at his works each as artistic works and not as press reports. In 1955, he presented his book The Sweet Flypaper of Life finished with photos of Harlem and text by Langston Hughes. In later years he was no longer working as a freelance photographer, but began as a high school teacher to teach black and white photography at New York's Hunter College.

DeCarava was married for 39 years with his second wife, the art historian is. The couple has a son and three daughters. From a first marriage photographer comes a son.

Honors and Awards

Publications

• The Sweet Flypaper of Life. . Simon and Schuster, New York, in 1955, OCLC 468808146 ( with a text by Langston Hughes ); (Reprint: Howard University Press, Washington, 1984, ISBN 0-88258-152- X) Harlem story. The Sweet Flypaper of Life / The sweet glue of life. translated into German by Paridam of the Knesebeckstraße. Edition Langewiesche -Brandt, Ebenshausen at Munich in 1956, DNB 450,882,438th (English and German text )