Documenting takes many forms.
It can be written (newspapers, magazines, journals), oral (radio and podcasts) or visual (visual documentaries, photos, videos, films).
With these various forms, documenting is a kind of an art in itself because it gives information and tells stories that pique our attention both with its content and with its presentation.
Roy DeCarava’s photography is an excellent example of artistic documentation because he dedicated most of his life to photograph and document – in an outstanding artistic way – the day to day life of African-American people in Harlem in the first half of the 20th century.
His photos are exceptional and unique, very beautiful and authentic, honest yet rafined.
Beyond DeCarava’s outstanding talent for composition and precision in his photographs, his signature is the deep use of the wide range of greys in his pictures.
Therefore, not only are his photos aesthetically beautiful and hard to reproduce, but they have also captured a part of history, of a community, of a city.
For the people of his time, and for the generations to come, worlwide.
Photography is thus a legacy.
For more about photography, visit my Pinterest board about it here.
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