James Augustus Joseph Van DerZee was a photographer, born in Lenox, Massachusetts, the second of six children. He began practicing photography at the age of 10, taking pictures of his family, his classmates, and various residents of Lenox, and developing the pictures at home. He moved to New York City at the age of 18, where he held various jobs, played and taught the piano and violin, and continued to refine his talent for photography.

His entry into professional photography came at a department store portrait studio in Newark, New Jersey, where he gained practical experience in posing and lighting a variety of people. Upon returning to New York, he operated a photography studio in conjunction with his sister's art and music conservatory, and later opened his own studio in Harlem. He became a sought-after photographer, known for his attention to detail, his artistic backdrops, and his ability to photograph people in relaxed, natural-looking poses.

The peak of Van DerZee's popularity coincided with the Harlem Renaissance. He photographed many prominent people, including Joe Louis, Florence Mills, and Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. He was also the official photographer for Marcus Garvey's United Negro Improvement Association. His work for Garvey created an enduring visual record of UNIA's parades, rallies, and individual members. The majority of his photos, however, were taken of ordinary people, weddings, funerals, religious congregations, social clubs, civic organizations, barber shops and beauty salons, drugstores, schools, sports clubs, and other elements of the vibrant community life of Harlem in the 1920s and '30s.

Over the years, Van DerZee saved some 75,000 prints and negatives of his work. His fortunes declined after 1935, but he maintained a studio in Harlem, continuing to work in relative obscurity until he was "rediscovered" in 1968. His photographs were the largest individual contribution to the exhibit "Harlem on My Mind" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In his eighties, he finally attained national and worldwide fame.