“Now this is how you make great pictures.” A creative child, James VanDerZee is awed by the photograph of his family produced by a contraption called a camera. After saving enough money to buy a camera of his own, James starts small, taking photographs of his family and classmates. As a young adult, he becomes an assistant photographer at a New Jersey portrait studio. Initially confined to the darkroom because of the color of his skin, James carefully adjusts and retouches the portraits to make people shine. Eventually, James opens his own studio in New York. He excels at putting customers at ease and setting the scene before shooting photographs. Thanks to his innovative methods and his penchant for photographing middle-class African Americans (uncommon subjects at the time), James enjoys great success during the Harlem Renaissance. This book recounts not only the career but the exceptional artistic vision of a photographer whose body of work documented 40 years of history in Harlem. (Ages 6-10)

NAACP Image Awards Nominee - National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

A biography of James Van Der Zee, innovative and celebrated African American photographer of the Harlem Renaissance.

James VanDerZee was just a young boy when he saved enough money to buy his first camera. He took photos of his family, classmates, and anyone who would sit still for a portrait. By the fifth grade, James was the school photographer and unofficial town photographer.

Eventually he outgrew his small town and moved to the exciting, fast-paced world of New York City. After being told by his boss that no one would want his or her photo taken "by a black man," James opened his own portrait studio in Harlem. He took photographs of legendary figures of the Harlem Renaissance-politicians such as Marcus Garvey, performers including Florence Mills, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, and Mamie Smith-and ordinary folks in the neighborhood too. Everyone wanted fancy portraits by James VanDerZee.

Winner of Lee & Low's New Voices Award, Take a Picture of Me, James VanDerZee! tells the story of a groundbreaking artist who chronicled an important era in Harlem and showed the beauty and pride of its people.