Hot Red

My roy project for photo class
“ROY is NYC’s greatest photographer. The giant among those that know. Wonderful man, and shooter, hopes more see his work. A sad, sad Moment, but also a time to celebrate the richness of life.”
— Jeff Randall



“Smooth, silky, smoky and gentle; as formal as you might expect from the painter he once wanted to be, Roy DeCarava photographs speak in a language far softer than we’re accustomed to now.”





Roy Decarva was a hard working and inspiring African American artist aside from his well-known photographs Roy had an other dream that involved a great eye. He wanted to presume painting and it had become a part time job. But over all he needed to make ends meet and stubble into photography in which he found astonishing. Others were sure to
agree as his photos became more famous for the in depth vision that was shown. Roy has inspired many unknown as well as others.

Like a great jazz musician, DeCarava had a great photographic touch. He was an artist of the
camera. Knowing how to capture pure bliss in something that would draw a person to tiers.


He was born in December 9th of 1919 and pasted away in October 27th 2009 Many near have token notice of what a great inspiration of wisdom he gave before his final days.




Raised by a single mother he had grown up in the
least sunshine side of the states but aside from
where he began its where he had ended that had a
huge impact.













Roy Decarva was the first African American photographer to win a Guggenheim Fellowship and was awarded a National Medal of Arts in 2006.

Roy Rudolph DeCarava is his real full name.


DeCarava and poet Langston Hughes collaborated on a notable 1955 book on life in Harlem, The Sweet Flypaper of Life.

DeCarava graduated from Chelsea Vocational High School.

The Cooper Union, but left after two years to attend classes at the Harlem Art Center. Deciding early on that he wanted to be an artist, he began working as a
Painter and commercial illustrator, and many of his
early photographs were meant only as reference for serigraph prints. He was drawn to photography by “the directness of the medium,” and soon found
himself communicating the themes and ideas of his
paintings photographically. In 1955, DeCarava opened
A Photographer's Gallery.

He cherished the people, places, and events in his pictures and early on developed the means to express his affection.

He shoots using only ambient light, then prints so as to coax light expressively out of very dark images or, more rarely, to delineate darker detail in very light ones. The grays in his black-and-white pictures are velvety
and warm qualities he occasionally enhances by
purposely shooting out of focus or exposing long enough to show movement.


He also taught in Harlem as a professor of fine arts such as photos.

“I loved him. The short period of time I knew him I learn a lifetime worth of information. He was the
shooters, shooter, outstanding master of his craft and just an all around great person. My heart is saddened today!”
— Willie Middlebrook