Abstract

This article proposes multiple and sometimes contradictory iconographical analyses of a 1924 portrait photograph by Harlem photographer James VanDerZee in order to demonstrate how VanDerZee and his sitters engaged in what Henry Louis Gates calls Signifyin(g). This layered and polyvocal photograph communicates a rich sense of African American identity between the two World Wars: simultaneously modern, modernist, Africanizing, and participating in the creation of a so-called "usable past" for black people in the United States.

Full Text
Paper version not known

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.