James Latimer Allen

Allen was born in New York City, and by the late 1920s he built a photography studio in which many of the elites from the era was photographed. Among the figures he photographed includes Langston Hughes, Paul Robeson, Alain Locke, and Carl Van Vechten.{{cite news|url=http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic/?verb=sf&sfi=AC01NBSimplSrch|title=ART; Of the Plight of Workers, Portraits With Evanescence|last=Zimmer|first=William|date=March 14, 1999|work=The New York Times|page=25|accessdate=March 27, 2013}}{{subscription required}}

According to New York Times art critic William Zimmer, Allen's work helped "underscored the emergence" of "The New Negro" philosophy of the time. His work showed a "purposeful uniformity" that he believed captured this idea of an upper-class, well-educated African American. All of his subjects were well dressed, and photographed with a soft focus, similar to that of portraits of intelligentsia at that time. These images were called portraits of distinction, and featured important figures to the Harlem Renaissance such as Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen.

Allen's work appeared in several popular publications by proponents and supporters of the Harlem Renaissance movement, such as The Opportunity, The Messenger, and The Crisis.Yale Bulletin and Calendar, Vol. 27, No. 18, January 25 – February 1, 1999. He was featured in the 1930s film A Study of Negro Artists, along with Richmond Barthé, Aaron Douglas, Palmer Hayden, William Ellisworth Artis, Malvin Gray Johnson, Augusta Savage, Lois Mailou Jones, and Georgette Seabrooke, and others.[https://archive.org/details/study_of_negro_artists A Study of Negro Artists] at Internet Archive.[https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/561208/a-study-of-negro-artists#synopsis "A Study of Negro Artists (1937)"] at TCM. According to Camara Dia Holloway author of "Allen, James Latimer" records show Allen enlisted in World War 2.

His work was exhibited in Yale University Art Gallery in 1999.{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant/access/38629869.html?dids=38629869:38629869&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jan+31%2C+1999&author=OWEN+McNALLY%3B+Courant+Staff+Writer&pub=Hartford+Courant&desc=IMAGES+REBIRTH+AFTER+60+YEARS+OF+OBSCURITY&pqatl=google|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130411164446/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant/access/38629869.html?dids=38629869:38629869&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jan+31,+1999&author=OWEN+McNALLY;+Courant+Staff+Writer&pub=Hartford+Courant&desc=IMAGES+REBIRTH+AFTER+60+YEARS+OF+OBSCURITY&pqatl=google|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 11, 2013|title=IMAGES REBIRTH AFTER 60 YEARS OF OBSCURITY|last=McNally|first=Owen|date=January 31, 1999|work=The Hartford Courant|page=G1|accessdate=March 27, 2013}}{{subscription required}} He was awarded a $50 commission prize by the Harmon Foundation for his work in photography as a Negro artist.{{Cite news|author=Edward A. Jewell|title=ART: Work of Negro Artists on View. Exhibition by Anne Goldthwaite. Other Art Shows|work=The New York Times |date=February 17, 1931|page=29}} The show in 1933, however, was said to not be very representative of the work being done nationwide by Negro artists.{{Cite news|author=Edward A. Jewell|title=NEW DISPLAY MADE OF ART OF NEGROES: Exhibition at New School Has Fewer Entries, but Shows Interesting Subjects|work=The New York Times|date=May 1, 1934|page=21}}

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Category:1907 births

Category:1977 deaths

Category:African-American photographers

Category:20th-century American photographers

Category:Harlem Renaissance

Category:20th-century African-American artists