A Man in a Bowler Hat, from the series "Harlem, U.S.A."

<p>Chicago-based photographer Dawoud Bey is known for his portraits of self possessed sitters who directly address the camera. Inspired to take up photography after a teenage visit to the exhibition <em>Harlem on My Mind</em> at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bey eventually decided to document various “types” of residents in Harlem, combining street photography with traditional portraiture. His insider/outsider status—he was born in Queens but had family in Harlem—made him sympathetic to his subjects, yet gave him some distance. The resulting series, completed only three-and-a-half years later, made up his first solo exhibition, <em>Harlem U.S.A.</em> held at the Studio Museum in 1979. Bey recalled that “it was about a particular moment in the evolution of Harlem in which there were clearly visible traces of Harlem’s past. A black man walking around in a bowler hat—that picture I took of him could’ve been made in 1932. It has an almost timeless quality.</p>