Jennie Louise Van Der Zee is a photographer of African Americans during the times of the Roaring Twenties. She goes by the name Madame E. Toussaint. Welcome. She is one of the most popular African American women photographers and filmmakers in the silent industry. The Silent Industries is an era of cinema before the invention of synchronized sound. Madame created masterpieces to not only please people’s eyes, but to tell a story. This was the best way she could express herself and reach a different audience. She was determined every day to make a difference in this mysterious world. When she discovered that art was her passion, she became unstoppable. Her first experience with art was music. Jennie would sing with her siblings when she was younger and play the drums. …show more content…
As she grew up in Lenox, Massachusetts, her parents were employed by Ulysses S. Grant as a maid and butler. Welcome to see the battles that the soldiers went through by fighting in the war. Being a curious little girl, she saw all sides of WW1. This introduced her to the mistreatment of African American soldiers. She noticed that African American soldiers would spend more days in the trenches than any other American unit. Welcome, would feel devastated because she knew she couldn’t do anything about it. She wanted the world to be aware of this issue because she knew it was unfair. Likewise, this is where she got her inspiration for taking photos of African American soldiers. Her brother James Van Der Zee was well known for his photography during the Harlem Renaissance. He taught her about photography and she fell in love with it. She fortunately continued working on her craft and later became an art teacher. According to her brother, she loved children and introduced them to different forms of art. She wanted to give them an outlet for creativity. Through her love of craft, she met her lovely husband Ernest Toussaint.