Customer Reviews

Roy Decarava: A Retrospective

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Pauline Kael once wrote of a film, "I'm scared to say how good I think this movie is." That's how I feel about this book. The pictures cover a wide variety of subjects, from urban landscapes to intimate family scenes to nearly abstract images of the commonplace, but they are consistently engaging, thematically and artistically. All of the photographs are black-and-white, many are dark with multiple gradations of gray, and most are shot with ambient light. De Carava was a painter before he became a photographer, and that background shows in his appreciation for composition and the use of light. Anyone who doubts that photography can rise to the level of art should spend some time with these images.

There are so many great pictures in this book that it's hard to pick just a few favorites. But "Dancers, New York City," "Woman Walking, Above," "Sam Laughing," "Gittel" and "Graduation Day" would all be toward the top of my list. There are also a number of interesting shots of writers, artists and musicians who were part of African-American New York City arts scene in the 1950s and early 60s.

The prefatory essays are helpful and informative, but it's the photos themselves that are the stars of this show.

Although I am a serious amateur photographer, and student of the history of photography, I admit to being ignorant of DeCarava's work. A visit to the current DeCarava exhibition at Atlanta's High Museum changed that. He is an outstanding black and white photographer, with a tendency to produce dark and moody scenes. The images work. Each one seems to clearly convey the artists intent. He shows mastery in all of his varied works whether street scenes, portraits, abstractions, or still lifes. I couldn't leave the museum without buying this book.

Roy de Carava's photographs are simply breathtaking.

It is really unfortunate that the book is no longer available in its softcover edition. Could we convince MOMA to make it accessible to people who can't pay sixty bucks for a book?