James Van Der Zee

“I tried to see that every picture was a work of art.”

“I was taking pictures of the people who were doing things, the people who were making the Harlem Renaissance.”

“I wanted to make the camera take what I thought should be there.”

“Sometimes the photographs are more important than the people who are in them.”

“The biggest day for studio portraits was Sunday, especially Easter Sunday. The high-class church people were all dressed up, and they would come to the studio before or after church and sit for their portraits.”

“I had a lot of front... I was a magician in a way. I had a way of making people feel at ease and that's what you have to do.”