Curriculum Materials: Art in America
|
|
|
Image 20 James van DerZee Questions: |
Harlem Couple
The photograph Harlem Couple shows a fashionable man and woman wearing raccoon coats and posing with a shiny Cadillac. This is not at all a slice-of-life photo, but rather a posed portrait. To avoid the mechanical look of most studio photos, van DerZee personalized the poses of his portrait subjects according to their wishes. Evidently, this couple wanted their car to be an integral part of their portrait. They intentionally left the car's door open to reveal the man's coat. The woman's three-quarter standing pose amply displays her fashionable attire: a tight-fitting cap, long fur coat, and shiny pumps.
Repeated vertical and horizontal lines create rich
PATTERNS on the car and
the walk-up apartments in the
BACKGROUND. The sleek
curves and shiny polished surface of the car provide a
strong contrast to the geometric regularity,
CLASSICAL decoration,
and varied surfaces of the apartments. Contrasts of soft and
hard materials, rough and smooth
TEXTURES, and light and
dark areas provide additional visual interest in the
photograph.
|
|