Van Der Zee took this picture of himself the year after he opened his first studio in Harlem. Business was going very well for him.
Van Der Zee is pointing to a newspaper headline. If you look carefully, you can see what the headline is about. It is about African American soldiers fighting in World War I. Van Der Zee is clearly proud of these soldiers.
Before World War I, some white people felt that African Americans would not make become good soldiers.
In the photograph, Van Der Zee is happy to point out the heroism of African American soldiers. Many of Van Der Zee’s photographs also show successful African Americans.