Marvin Smith, noted photographer of Harlem Life, succumbs in Manhattan at age 93

Jet, Dec 15, 2003

Marvin Smith, a photographer whose images of Harlem included moments in the lives of Jackie Robinson, Nat King Cole and Maya Angelou as well as ordinary scenes from the neighborhood, recently died in Manhattan. He was 93.

Smith and his twin brother, Morgan Smith, photographed Harlem in the 1940s, '50s and '60s. Morgan died in 1993.

Their work was featured in the book Harlem: The Vision of Morgan and Marvin Smith. The brothers took a team photograph of the New York Black Yankees, captured anti-lynching demonstrations, and shot W.E.B. DuBois recording a speech.

The brothers' work was exhibited at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, and they were featured in a PBS documentary in 1995.

Born in Kentucky, the brothers came to New York when they were 23 and studied art with sculptor Augusta Savage. They married identical twin sisters and divorced three years later on the same day.

In 1939 the brothers opened a Harlem studio, which stayed open until 1968. They worked in television sound production until their retirement in 1975.

Survivors include a niece, Monica Smith Bolden.