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Roy Lewis: A Photo Essay
Roy Lewis’ love of photography stems from a deep well of expe
riences unique to a young African-American growing up in rural
Mississippi during the late 40’s and early 50’s. Having the opportu
nity to accompany a relative on travels throughout Louisiana, Arkan
sas and Mississippi, working after-school at a local newspaper and
concerned teachers and community members all combined to encour
age Lewis’ questioning mind. Photography became a means for
communicating, cs^turing and expressing moods and ideas.
In 1956, after graduating from high school, Lewis moved to
Chicago and began working with Johnson Publishing Company.
Although he did not immediately begin working with photography, he
later returned to Johnson after spending two years in the army. Lewis
remained there from 1962 to 1968 and covered personalities and
protests, among many other things.
Chicago introduced Lewis to many of the leading black figures of
the 1960’s: Elijah Muhammed, Stokely Carmichael, Martin Luther
King, Jr. and Nikki Giovanni among others. His focus on poets, artists
and dancers resulted in a lengthy documentation on Pulitzer Prize
winner Gwendolyn Brooks and a nearly 20-year photo history of
noted writer Sterling Brown. Other special themes of work have
included the family, the black social worker, social conditions, the
visual arts and religion.
After leaving Johnson Publishing in 1968, Lewis developed a
training workshop in photography for the Office of Economic Oppor
tunity and served as Director of Cinematography and Promotion for
Project Reach at Notre Dame University.
Upon moving to Washington, D.C. in 1973, Lewis continued his
free-lance work while also teaching and lectunng at Howard Univer
sity, as well as other area community organizations. In addition, Lewis
was retained by a Howard University owned television station,
WHMM as it’s Manager of Photographic Services. His other free
lance assignments have included work for the Howard University
Press, Life, Black Enterprise and Essence magazines, as well as the
Congressional Black Caucus among others.
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