Obviously there were exceptions, but within the United States in particular, you had widespread circulation of derogatory images in the forms of minstrelsy and Currier and Ives, all telling one kind of story about Black individuals. But Van Der Zee is really telling, visually, an extraordinary story and a really distinct one that is influenced by his innovations.

Speaking of these innovations, Ansel Adams once said, “You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” What were some of the techniques Van Der Zee used to “make” his photographs?

There was a high level of artistry involved. He really took his time—as opposed to peers who just had people coming into their studios, getting their photograph taken, and leaving, and then having more subjects come in. By contrast, Van Der Zee limited his visits to four or five per day. It’s important to think through what this means for his practice—what the extra time affords him when it comes to thinking through the final product with these photographs.

Some of the things he did were on the surface of the photograph. He was in the habit of hand coloring on the very surface of the photograph. He also did a lot of superimposing on the images. For example, he would add the text from a poem directly on an image. And then other times he would add little illustrations to the image. So, if he’s taking a photograph of someone who was in the service, he would add an illustration of a flag in the upper left-hand corner.