Who is Roy DeCarava? Supreme unveils Spring 2022 collab collection with Harlem-born photographer

After receiving an overwhelming response for its previous collab with Stone Island, Supreme is back with its fresh Spring 2022 collection, this time with the Roy DeCarava Archives.

The streetwear label has worked on a collection of t-shirts and hooded sweatshirts honoring the iconic Harlem-born photographer, Roy DeCarava.

The Supreme’s Roy DeCarava assortment is all set to be released on May 19, at 11 a.m. EDT in the United States, followed by May 21, at 11 a.m. JST in Japan.

According to the fashion label, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture located in Harlem will be receiving all proceeds from the sale of the Roy DeCarava lineup.

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Supreme dedicated its Spring 2022 to the legendary photographer Roy DeCarava

Roy DeCarava-inspired Spring 2022 collection (Image via Supreme)

The collection, like most of the label's collaborations, underlines its relevance beyond fashion. The streetwear label digs deep into DeCarava's work before printing it on tees and hoodies, limiting its own branding to a bare minimum.

The offerings include two different print t-shirts and a sweatshirt, paying homage to the icon’s past work.

The sweatshirt comes in five colours: black, blue, tangerine, mint green, and white. They are adorned with a back print of Malcolm X photographed in 1964. Each outerwear will be priced at $158.

The collection’s first tee features the Malcolm X shot, while the other tee depicts DeCarava's characteristic art. His art, which is shockingly simple, influential, and indeed intense, is featured on the t-shirts fashioned in four different colors. Black, light blue, green, and white fabrics are employed to make the tees. The t-shirt will arrive with a price tag of $44.

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DeCarava’s work was “the best of both worlds”

Roy DeCarava was born in Harlem, New York in 1919. For almost 60 years, the artist shot subtle, evocative photographs of life in his hometown and overseas. He defined the art as,

“Art is the ultimate in communication because art aspires to be the absolute only consideration, and therefore as pure, as pristine and as valuable as possible.”

DeCarava mastered painting, printmaking, and freehand drawing before turning to photography, originally utilizing a camera as a creative tool for painting. He started making intriguing, dark silver gelatin prints in the late 1940s, paving the way for new technical prospects in contemporary photography.

In 1950, the artist’s pictures were first demonstrated in New York. He was the first African-American photographer to receive a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in 1952.

DeCarava was able to start a venture that later became The Sweet Flypaper of Life, a rich and groundbreaking partnership with poet Langston Hughes, thanks to the Fellowship's funding. Hughes took a handful of his images and created a dramatic fictitious narrative, told through the eyes of Harlem’s grandmother, Sister Mary Bradley.

In 1960, DeCarava released The Sound I Saw, a handcrafted artist's book chronicling his involvement with New York City's burgeoning showbiz industry.

Roy fostered the promotion of high art photography all across his life and sponsored a new generation of photographers.

The eminent art critic Roberta Smith commented on Roy’s work, saying,

"DeCarava's work is itself the best of both worlds. Visually rigorous yet incalculably sensitive to the human predicament and the psychology of everyday life, especially concerning but not limited to African-Americans."

He started and maintained The Photographer's Gallery from 1955 to 1957, the country's first exhibition dedicated only to American fine art photography. Then, in 1975, Roy joined the Hunter College as a faculty, where he taught undergrad and MFA programs for years.