The Sound I Saw: Improvisation on a Jazz Theme [Hardcover]

Roy Decarava (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 13, 2001

A photographic portrait of the world of jazz music. Presented as a stream of 196 images interspersed with DeCarava's own poetry, this volume is, in its form and overall effect, a printed equivalent of jazz -composed of overlapping passages of pain, sweetness, optimism and suffering. Roy DeCarava has documented the people, both famous and anonymous, and the seemingly mundane yet intimate moments of his Harlem neighbours and neighbourhood. The result is at once a work for photography enthusiasts, an historic documentation for jazz lovers, and a profound message to African-Americans as well as Whites that artistic talent knows no boundaries of race.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Let legendary photographer Roy DeCarava lead you through the dark, moody, and exciting world of New York jazz in the 1960s. Photographed 30 years ago and not published until now, The Sound I Saw is a saunter through a poignant period of New York musical history and life experience. Vacant lots and sweaty musicians dot a cultural landscape that looks as if it's going to burst at the seams. The beautiful black-and-white images simultaneously capture hard and luscious life in the city. Lonely figures abound, on park benches, street corners, stages, and subways. The music appears and strives to make intense connections with the surrounding world. A delirious trumpet player works so hard you can almost feel him move the camera. This beautiful coffee-table size book has one striking picture after another, each capturing heartfelt experiences of life in the great city. From jam sessions to candy stores, the streets of New York appear choreographed to reveal the depths of the human spirit. --J.P. Cohen

About the Author

Born in 1919, Roy DeCarava is a life-long New Yorker. Though he was trained in painting and printmaking, in the late 1940s his interests moved toward photography. In 1950 Edward Steichen, in his role as Director of the Photography Department of the Museum of Art in New York purchased two DeCarava prints for the MoMA collection - the photographer's first sale. In 1952 he became the first African-American photographer to be awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for his work. Early recognition of DeCarava came for The Sweet Flypaper of Life, a 1955 book on Harlem life with his pictures accompanied by text by Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes (1902-1967). That same year, DeCarava's work was included in the groundbreaking photography exhibition "The Family of Man," mounted by MoMA, and then shown at 88 venues in 37 countries between 1955-1965. In 1956 he concentrated his photography on jazz musicians - an extended series that was exhibited from January 19-March 20, 1983 at The Studio Museum of Harlem in a show entitled "The Sound I Saw: The Jazz Photographs of Roy DeCarava." (Other than the title and an overlap of a few images, the exhibition and its journal-like catalogue, have little in common with this book.) The exhibition subsequently traveled to Port Washington and Syracuse, New York. From 1968-75, DeCarava worked under contract to Sports Illustrated. In 1975 he began teaching photography at Hunter College, where he is currently Distinguished Professor of Art of the City University of New York.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Phaidon Press (September 13, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714841234
• ISBN-13: 978-0714841236
• Product Dimensions: 13.7 x 10.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,220,048 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 5/5, March 31, 2002

By 

Peter A. Carbonaro "Yes, THAT Peter Carbonaro." (Oceanside, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Sound I Saw: Improvisation on a Jazz Theme (Hardcover)

For nearly forty years, a masterwork of photography has sat in obscurity, discussed only by aficionados of photography in reverential tones. It's a work that captures the essence of jazz, the spirit of Renaissance Harlem, and the beauty and simplicity of life. That book is The Sound I Saw, and it is available, finally, now.

Created as a prototype by the photographer Roy DeCarava, best-known for his 1955 collaboration with poet Langston Hughes on The Sweet Flypaper of Life, The Sound I Saw is a series of nearly two hundred black-and-white images of Harlem during a time when jazz exemplified the pulse of a city, and most particularly, a neighborhood. The photographs come in no particular order; and they are threaded along by DeCarava's disarming and evocative poetry. It's apparent that DeCarava was trying to capture in print the spirit and essence of jazz, and in this effort he is eminently successful.

What's important to note is that DeCarava doesn't try to impress a certain point of view on us; on the contrary, his photographic style is so unobtrusive that it makes you forget you're looking at a photograph of an empty street or a group of musicians working out an arrangement. DeCarava wants you to feel as if you've ended up on that street, or perhaps you've taken a wrong turn and stumbled into a rehearsal area backstage. He has a profound appreciation for those delicious moments of solitary discovery, and wants you to experience them as well.

His poetry has the same effect - it doesn't so much paint a picture as try to describe a feeling. It's never flighty or filled with hyperbole; it simply tries to describe the essence of the images it accompanies. We become privy to DeCarava's thoughts without being assaulted by his opinions. You get the impression that DeCarava isn't trying to put forth a certain point of view; he simply wants you stumble in on his ideas the way you would his images, and take away with you whatever speaks to you. As a result, The Sound I Saw achieves an exquisite goal of meaning something different to everyone who reads it.

Perhaps what's most striking about these photos is their utter lack of artifice. One of the plagues of modern photography is the heavy reliance of many photographers upon artifice and alteration in their images; with the exception of photojournalists, it's hard to think of many contemporary photographers who don't rely on heavily staged and contrived shots, props or artificial enhancement of their images in order to achieve a visual and emotional impact. DeCarava achieves a sublime and visceral beauty without any of these. He's succeeded in capturing images with the beauty of pure art but the uncomplicated honesty of photojournalism, and in doing so, has created one of the finest works of photography of our time.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Subject: jazz musicians; Theme people and light, November 12, 2001

By 

Vernon Loverde (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Sound I Saw: Improvisation on a Jazz Theme (Hardcover)

A beautiful sensitivity to emotions in motion is mixed with a personal views of musicians lives. The book as a whole displays a counterpoint of visual narrative that brings warmth to the black and white photos. Running, walking, playing, resting jazz people seen with gritty light over years of being there bring power to Roy Decarava's journal. No technical scales of gray or precision of silver sunsets, this is a story book of and about people living jazz.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best of Black & White, December 17, 2001

By 

Bigj "JohnO" (North Carolina) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Sound I Saw: Improvisation on a Jazz Theme (Hardcover)

Roy DeCarava captures the soul of a time gone by - all in available light and black & white!! His images have more emotion and life than I thought possible. A must have book for any serious photographer/collector.