Sleeping
Date1944
Artist
James Van Der Zee
(American photographer, 1886–1983)
MediumGelatin silver print
Dimensionssheet: 8 1/8 × 10 in. (20.6 × 25.4 cm)
Credit LineSpecial Purchase Fund, 1979
Object number1979-74
On View
Not on viewCollections
ClassificationsPHOTOGRAPH
Label TextIn 1916, Van Der Zee opened his first studio in Harlem, and he would photograph that community's residents for over fifty years. In addition to the usual portraits, he also photographed weddings, rallies, athletic teams, civic organizations, and African American celebrities. At the time, it was not unusual to document funerals, creating a last portrait in remembrance of the deceased.