The Sweet Flypaper of Life

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The Sweet Flypaper of Life

Artist Roy DeCarava (American, 1919-2009)

Author Langston Hughes (1902-1967)

Date1955

Dimensions(Closed) H: 5 in. (12.7 cm); W: 6 in. (15.2 cm)

MediumBook with poem by Langston Hughes and illustrations with gravure reproductions of De Carava's photographs.

ClassificationBooks

Credit LineCarl B. Spitzer Fund

Object number

2005.317

Not on View

Label TextPublished in 1955, just one year after the landmark Supreme Court decision in Brown vs. Board of Education that officially ended institutionalized segregation of public schools, The Sweet Flypaper of Life was a groundbreaking volume documenting one woman’s life in Harlem. With photographs by DeCarava and poetry by Langston Hughes, it was unlike anything that had come before it in terms of its portrayal of African-American life. The small book immediately sold out its first printing, and has not been out of print since. Photographer Roy DeCarava, like James Van Der Zee (see Peaceful Family nearby), documented African-American life—not in studio portraits, but in candid photos of everyday life on the streets of Harlem. His images presented a different perspective on the black community to the American public of the 1950s: rather than showing a community torn by political and social strife or downtrodden by harsh circumstance, DeCarava’s photos tell a story of ordinary Americans with the same concerns as anyone else. His collaboration with Hughes produced something at once elegantly beautiful and socially progressive. protected by copyrightExhibition History

Toledo Museum of Art, People Get Ready: 50 Years of Civil Rights, Jun. 27-Sept. 21, 2014.