Research Catalog

Title

Photographs from Harlem Document / Aaron Siskind.

Author

Siskind, Aaron

Publication

1932-1940.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

• 46 items (.3 cubic ft., one box); 36 x 28 cm
• 31 photographic prints : gelatin silver, black and white ;
• 15 photographic prints : gelatin silver, black and white ;

Summary

Depictions of African American residents, activities and social conditions in Harlem, New York, from 1932-1940, consisting of individual portraits of children; candid shots of families in their apartments; individual portraits and views of boarding house tenants in their lodgings; candid shots and views of theatrical and nightclub performers; and views of street vendors and customers, street life, some local businesses including a Father Divine Peace Mission, a religious service, a crowd viewing a baseball game, exteriors of deteriorated and abandoned housing structures, a man sleeping on the flatbed of a truck, and a close-up of a carpenter's hand.

Subjects

• Gelatin silver prints > 1930-1940
• Group photography > 1930-1940
• Portrait photography > 1930-1940
• Harlem (New York, N.Y.)
• Documentary photography > New York (State) > New York
• Abandoned buildings > New York (State) > New York > 1930-1940
• City & town life > New York (State) > New York > 1930-1940
• African American business enterprises > New York (State) > New York
• African American entertainers > 1930-1939
• African Americans > Children > New York (State) > New York > 1930-1940
• African Americans > Domestic life > New York (State) > New York > 1930-1940
• African Americans > Housing > New York (State) > New York
• African Americans > Economic & social conditions > New York (State) > New York > 1930-1940
• African Americans > Social life > New York (State) > New York > 1930-1940

Genre/Form

• Portrait photography – 1930-1940.
• Group photography – 1930-1940.
• Gelatin silver prints – 1930-1940.

Note

• Title based on photographer's book "Harlem Document."
• Most photographs bear photographer's signature on recto. All items bear handwritten notations or captions on verso. One image appears to have been printed through a square printing frame that cuts off the top of the image. Some items are duplicates.
• Images were originally captured between 1932 and 1940, and may have been printed later.
• All of the signed fine art prints appear in the book "Harlem Document."
• Some of the images were captured before Siskind helped to establish the Feature Group (1936-1941), the documentary production unit of the Photo League. The group produced various photo series, including "Harlem Document" and "The Most Crowded Block in the World." Many images from both of these series, as well as some of the pre-1936 images that were included with the Feature Group, form Siskind's book "Harlem Document: Photographs 1932-1940."

Terms of Use (note)

• Collection is under copyright; permission of the copyright holder is required for duplication.

Biography (note)

• Aaron Siskind, 1903-1991, was an American photographer known for both his documentary and abstract works. Born and raised in New York City, Siskind, who was a high school English teacher there (1926-1947), began his photographic career as a documentarian in the New York Photo League (1932-1941) in which he helped to establish the League's Feature Group (1936). After leaving the Photo League in the early 1940s, Siskind's work became more symbolic and abstract, focusing on details from nature and architecture. In 1951, at the invitation of photographer Harry Callahan, Siskind joined the faculty of the Illinois Institute of Technology, Institute of Design in Chicago, where he became head of the photography department in 1961. He later followed Callahan to the Rhode Island School of Design (1971), from where he would retire in 1976. Siskind died in Providence, R.I. in 1991.

Publications (note)

• Harlem document: photographs 1932-1940 / Aaron Siskind ; foreword, Gordon Parks ; text from Federal Writers Project edited by Ann Banks. Providence, R.I. : Matrix, 1981.

Call Number

Sc Photo Portfolio (Siskind, A.)

OCLC

1283774534

Author

Siskind, Aaron, photographer.

Title

Photographs from Harlem Document / Aaron Siskind.

Production

1932-1940.

Type of Content

still image

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

sheet

Terms Of Use

Collection is under copyright; permission of the copyright holder is required for duplication.

Biography

Aaron Siskind, 1903-1991, was an American photographer known for both his documentary and abstract works. Born and raised in New York City, Siskind, who was a high school English teacher there (1926-1947), began his photographic career as a documentarian in the New York Photo League (1932-1941) in which he helped to establish the League's Feature Group (1936). After leaving the Photo League in the early 1940s, Siskind's work became more symbolic and abstract, focusing on details from nature and architecture. In 1951, at the invitation of photographer Harry Callahan, Siskind joined the faculty of the Illinois Institute of Technology, Institute of Design in Chicago, where he became head of the photography department in 1961. He later followed Callahan to the Rhode Island School of Design (1971), from where he would retire in 1976. Siskind died in Providence, R.I. in 1991.

Publications

Harlem document: photographs 1932-1940 / Aaron Siskind ; foreword, Gordon Parks ; text from Federal Writers Project edited by Ann Banks. Providence, R.I. : Matrix, 1981.

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Research Call Number

Sc Photo Portfolio (Siskind, A.)