Background
Roy Rudolph DeCarava was born in 1919 in ew York City, United States.
Roy Rudolph DeCarava was born in 1919 in ew York City, United States.
DeCarava studied painting at Cooper Union Institute (1938-40), painting at Harlem Art Center (1940-42), and drawing and painting at George Washington Carver Art School (1944-45), all in New York City.
He was appointed associate professor of art at Hunter College in New York City in 1975, and in 1979 became a full professor. Previously he was an adiunct instructor in photography at Cooper Union (1969-72) and a contract photographer for Sports Illustrated magazine, 1968-75. DeCarava's photographs have also appeared in such publications as Look, Newsweek, Time and Life.
He also founded and directed A Photographers Gallery in New York City (1954-56).
DeCarava was the first black artist to win a Guggenheim Fellowship (1952). He has also received a Certificate of Recognition from the Mt. Morris United Presbyterian Church and Community Life Center in New York City (1969).
PUBLICATIONS Monograph: Roy DeCarava, Photographer, Jim Alinder, 1970. Books: Light Readings, A. D. Coleman, 1979; Seventeen Black Artists, Elton Fax, 1973; Photography in America, Robert Doty, 1974; The Movement, Lorraine Hansberry, 1964; The Sweet Flypaper of Life, w/ Langston Hughes, 1955; The Columbia Historical Portrait of New York, John A. Kouwenhoven, 1953. Anthologies: American Images, Renato Danese, 1980; Photography of the Fifties, Helen Gee, 1980; The Photograph Collector’s Guide, Lee D. Witkin & Barbara London, 1979.
A member of ASMP from 1963 to 1966, he chaired its Committee to End Discrimination Against Black Photographers. He was a member of the National Serigraph Society (1944-46).
DeCarava studied painting with Byron Thomas and Morris Kantor at Cooper Union Institute (1938-40).
DeCarava studied painting with Byron Thomas and Morris Kantor at Cooper Union Institute (1938-40).
DeCarava studied painting with Elton Fax at Harlem Art Center (1940-42).
DeCarava studied drawing and painting with Charles White at George Washington Carver Art School (1944-45).
