50 Vintage Studio Portraits of Celebrities Taken by Carl Van Vechten From the 1940s and 1950s ~ Vintage Everyday

Carl Van Vechten, a familiar figure among New York City’s literary and artistic circles in the early 20th century, tried his hand as a novelist, critic and journalist, to varying results, before picking up a camera in 1932. He proved a natural photographer. But perhaps more importantly, he had built relationships (in some cases decades-long) with many of the brightest artistic lights of the era, who were happy to pose for him: James Baldwin, W.E.B. Du Bois, Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne and dozens of others.

During his career as a photographer, Carl Van Vechten’s subjects, many of whom were his friends and social acquaintances, included dancers, actors, writers, artists, activists, singers, costumiers, photographers, social critics, educators, journalists, and aesthetes. In the artistic and intellectual communities of his day, Van Vechten truly covered the waterfront.

Beginning in 1932, in the studio in his New York City apartment, Van Vechten photographed many of the most famous and influential figures of his day as well as up-and-comers and artistic outliers. As a promoter of literary talent and a critic of dance, theater, and opera, Carl Van Vechten was as interested in the cultural margin as he was in the day’s most acclaimed and successful people. His diverse subjects give a sense of both Carl Van Vechten’s interests and his considerable role in defining the cultural landscape of the 20th century; among his many sitters one finds the leading lights of the Harlem Renaissance, the premier actors and writers of the American stage, the world’s greatest opera stars and ballerinas, the most important and influential writers of the day, among many others.

Van Vechten’s portraits have become more than just well-loved images; Van Vechten has helped to define the ways his subjects will be remembered, the way they will enter history and the popular imagination. Van Vechten’s most compelling photographs document the photographer’s artistic sensibility while demonstrating his significant talent for portraiture.