Join us for a truly unique opportunity to view over fifty vintage prints by the great American photographer Roy DeCarava.

A son of New York City’s Harlem neighborhood, Roy DeCarava came of age during the Harlem Renaissance.Taking up photography in his late 30’s, after a career as a painter and graphic artist, he turned his camera on everyday life in the community where he lived. He felt it important for black people to be "portrayed in a serious and artistic way.” Following a productive period photographing the New York jazz scene, he came to the attention of MoMA’s Edward Steichen who encouraged him to apply for a Guggenheim fellowship, which he received in 1952. The first for an African American photographer. Several of DeCarava’s photographs appeared in Steichen’s landmark exhibition The Family of Man. He has been exhibited world-wide and has numerous monographs to his credit. Images of his long and productive career are held by every major museum in the country.

The Underground Museum was founded in 2012 by Noah Davis (d. 2015) and his wife Karon.

Image: Two men, subway stairs. 1987