Coreen Simpson

Coreen Simpson initially wanted to work as a published writer and became a photojournalist after she realized she could incorporate photographs she took into her written works. Her extensive photography portfolio includes depictions of everyday life in Harlem and New York City. Cooking is My Game, a photograph Simpson believes established her status as a photographer, is part of a series she did for Unique New York documenting Black people working in the hospitality industry.

Simpson credits James Van Der Zee as a source of inspiration for capturing her subjects:

“Van Der Zee always wanted to give you the dignity of the subject. I also reach for the dignity of the subject. I don’t want to put down my subject in any way. I want to convey that in the photograph. I think that everyone has that basic dignity or basic carriage about how they want the world to see them.” – Coreen Simpson quoted in Rodger Birt’s “Coreen Simpson: An Interpretation,” Black American Literature Forum, 1987.

Title Cooking is My Game
Artist Coreen Simpson (b. 1942)         
Date 1974
Medium silver gelatin            
Dimensions 20 x 15 inches
Accession Number H77.66

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