Roy DeCarava – Shooting in Available Light

Roy DeCarava

"Woman Descending Stairs"

1951

Each week in my Beginning Photography class, our instructor Moshe Quinn introduced us to a new master photographer and assigned a mini research project each week. Though it was time-consuming, I loved learning about each photographer.

Roy De Carava was one of my favorite Photographers of the Week. I was thrilled to stumble upon this gentle photographer's interview on Fresh Air with Terry Gross early in my research.

I was amazed to learn that he “accepts the lighting conditions, whatever they are”. He didn’t believe that you couldn’t take a photo just because there wasn’t enough light. He said “I would rather sacrifice the information, in terms of details and things like that, for a feeling of mood.” This was a revelation for me, because I am the first to bellyache about the lack of perfect light conditions and point to it as a reason for not capturing a great image.

In “Woman Descending Stairs”, he allowed our eyes to find the precious few swathes of white in the photo. First one sees the woman’s hand as it elegantly bundles the excess volume of her coat. Then we are drawn to her legs that swished open her coat to reveal the light corner of the lining. Her natural grace would be the envy of any runway model.

In “Man Coming up Subway Stairs”, DeCarava conveys the man’s exhaustion by capturing the pull of the hand, just out of frame, and his posture slumped in his once-crisp shirt, now rumpled by a hard day’s work.

© Roy DeCarava

"Man coming up subway stairs"

1952

In an image from the book “The Sound I Saw”, DeCarava froze a moment of quietude that two jazz musicians found in an unadorned room back stage. It’s hard to decide whether this is quiet moment preceded or followed a lively jazz session on stage.

Roy DeCarava from "The Sound I Saw"
published by Phaidon Press in 2001

Here are some other images of DeCarava's I admire. The white shirts and the Lingerie shop signs are the stars of this image:

Roy DeCarava

Lingerie, New York

1950

Smithsonian American Art Museum

The tight embrace during a dance reveals just enough of the couple to imply the intimacy between them.

I love his fascination with stripes:

ROY DECARAVA
Man in Striped Shirt at Piano
Gelatin silver print. 1954/1981. Signed, titled, dated and numbered 481 3/2 in ink on the verso.
10 x 12 7/8in. (25.4 x 32.7cm.) Framed. 

DeCarava photographed many Jazz musicians who performed in Harlem, like Coltrane and Elvin:

Roy De Carava, Coltrane and Elvin, 1960

... and Duke Elington

I dare you to sit still during this fabulous clip of the young Duke Ellington playing “Take the A Train”. The A Train is the very best way to get to “Sugarhill way up in Harlem… in a hurry, hurry, hurry…”

Segment from the film”Reveille with Beverly” from 1943; the song was composed in 1939 by Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974).

A Visit to Franco Alessandrini’s Studio

When I visited New Orleans with my book club in October 2007, we had the great pleasure of meeting up with several of my husband’s of relatives who live there. One evening, a couple of us went to visit Franco Alessandrini and his family for cocktail hour on the roof top of his studio home.

Franco is an internationally-known artist who has produced many public works around the world. He was born near Florence, Italy but came to live in New Orleans when he was the artist in residence for the World’s fair in 1984.

When we arrived at their home, Franco and his wife gave us a tour of the small storefront on the ground floor. I immediately recognized the centerpiece of the space, a model of the Monument to the Immigrants:

It is quite beautiful in this scale; I like how you can easily walk around the entire sculpture and see all features without having to crane your neck. The full-sized, marble statue is now installed on the riverfront near the Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans where most immigrants actually first set foot on solid American ground.

This is how Franco describes the monument:

At the turn of the century many Italian immigrants came to this country, a large number of them through the port of New Orleans. This monument will commemorate and honor those who left their country to find something better for their future as well as their children's. The female muse is a symbol of hope in different civilizations. The star she holds represents guidance to the explorer toward his desire to find a new place and to achieve his dreams. Her gown, an inspirational and spiritual presence, flows over the figures of four immigrants forming a family nucleus. In each of their faces one can see the grim determination and courage they must have had to leave behind everything they knew. These people are being rendered from real photographs of their time to capture the proper wardrobe, detail and, most of all, the look in their eyes.

Being an immigrant myself, I’m always moved when I see this sculpture. It perfectly captures the ambivalence we felt when we set foot in New York in 1966. It did take a great leap of courage and determination for my parents to once again leave everything behind in hopes of a better future, yet we are still draped by the influence of our muse who points to our past experiences in the Netherlands and Indonesia.

On the mantle nearby, I noticed this sculpture and fell in love with it:

I admire how he celebrated and honored the jazz musicians of New Orleans:

Next we were invited upstairs to his studio where he was working on a plant series.

Right next to the studio is a lovely rooftop garden where we joined Franco and his family and friends for cocktails and hors d’oevres. They personify the image of Southern hospitality, both of the American and European varieties.

After drinks, to our great surprise and delight, Franco and his wife presented each of us with a poster of the Louisiana Alphabet he created. In 1984, it was declared the official alphabet by the governor.

Next time, I will tell you about some of Franco’s other works of art and show you what now graces his rooftop.

Top photo of the Immigrant Monument with the riverboat and the photo of the close-up of the immigrant face are from Franco Alessandrini's website.