Photographs have a lot of power. Photographs
can make us happy, sad, or curious. They can show us
places and people we would never see directly.
Born in 1886, James Van Der Zee understood
the power of photographs. He became interested
in photography when he was fourteen. He learned
how to use a camera and to develop and print
photographs.
By the time he was thirty, Van Der Zee was a
master photographer. His specialty was portraits,
pictures of people. People liked Van Der Zee’s artistic
photographs. He often touched up photographs so
that people looked their best. Sometimes he added
objects to the scene in the photograph.