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The
Photographer,
1942
Jacob Lawrence (American, 19172000)
Watercolor, gouache, and pencil on paper; 22
1/8 x 30 1/2 in. (56.2
x 77.5 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 2001 (2001.205) |
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In the 1930s photography became a real profession that melded art, technology,
and business. Fueled by the common interest in documenting one’s life and
surroundings, cottage industries of professional photographers multiplied
and prospered. In the hours away from the portrait studio, photographers
found great inspiration in the world around them, capturing the hustle and
bustle of New York as a choreographed dance. In the years 1942 and 1943,
Jacob Lawrence created a series of thirty paintings on paper based on everyday
life in Harlem, including this painting of a photographer at work. Despite
the parade of commercial traffic and pedestrians all around, the subjects
of the photographer’s portrait—father, mother, and daughter—all manage to
stand perfectly still while the artist exposes his image. This commission
could have been completed in the studio with far less effort: to capture
their lives for posterity in the thrall of Harlem must have been a point
of pride for both the artist and the family.
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