Louis Draper

“…having lived, worked and taught in the Harlem Community, I believe that a good deal of the Harlem Experience has shaped my outlook.  In addition to the environment and material it has furnished for me, Harlem has inspired me to filming history as it relates to the community and myself." – Louis Draper, 1976

Chasing his passion to study photography, Louis Draper moved to New York City in 1957. While enrolled in a workshop with photographer Harold Feinstein, Draper was encouraged to take photographs where he felt most inspired. Draper’s artistically framed photographs of Harlem blend abstraction and realism by playing with shapes, shadows, and perspective. In 1963, Draper was a founding member of a collective for Black photographers called the Kamoinge Workshop.

Title: Boy and H, Harlem
Artist: Louis Draper (1935 – 2002)
Date: 1961
Medium: silver gelatin 
Dimensions: Image size: 9 x 13 3/8 inches; Framed: 16 x 20 ½ inches
Accession Number: H77.26.2

Title: Harlem Approximately 1962
Artist: Louis Draper (1935 – 2002)
Date: 1962
Medium: silver gelatin on paper 
Dimensions: Image size: 18 ¼ x 12 ¾ inches; Framed: 19 ¾ x 15 ¼ inches
Accession Number: H77.26.1

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