Reginald McGhee

Reginald McGhee was credited with (re)acquainting audiences with the work of legendary American photographer,  James Van Der Zee. A summary of McGhee’s role appeared in The Beautiful People of James Van Der Zee | Veteran photographer captures 70 years of black life, a major feature in the October 1970 issue of the celebrated African American magazine, Ebony. Extract as follows: “Yet the artist may well have died unknown had it not been for a series of singular events. In 1967 [Reginald] McGhee, a black photographer, was conducting research for an exhibit “Harlem on My Mind.” He found Van DerZee in a Harlem studio along with possibly as many as 50,000 negatives. “It was amazing they had been kept in such condition,” McGhee recalls. Van DerZee thus became the exhibit’s principal contributor. But real fame awaited a tragedy of sorts, part of a life of bad luck that has haunted the photographer.

     Van DerZee and his wife, Gaynell, were evicted from their longtime home in Harlem. (They had purchased the house but later lost possession on a mortgage forclosure.) On the day of the eviction, the New York Times carried a picture story showwing the saddened photographer in front of the home. Aroused friends found lodgings for the couple; but more importantly, publishers with an eye for black subject matter suddenly became aware of the photographer’s existence.”

»  The ‘Beautiful People’ of James Van Der Zee

Article relating to an individual, 1970