# Austin Hansen > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Austin_Hansen > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Austin_Hansen.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_Hansen > Source revision: 1356234353 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American artist (1910–1996)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2021}} {{Infobox artist | name = Austin Hansen | honorific_suffix = | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1910|01|28}} | birth_place = [Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands](/source/Saint_Thomas%2C_U.S._Virgin_Islands){{cite web |last1=Gelder |first1=Lawrence Van |title=Austin Hansen, Visual Chronicler of Harlem Life, Dies at 85 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/01/25/nyregion/austin-hansen-visual-chronicler-of-harlem-life-dies-at-85.html |website=The New York Times |date=January 25, 1996}} | death_date = {{Death date and age|1996|01|23|1910|01|28}} | death_place = New York City, U.S. | nationality = | education = | alma_mater = | known_for = | notable_works = | style = | movement = | awards = | website = }} '''Austin Hansen''' (January 28, 1910 – January 23, 1996) was a [Black American](/source/Black_American) photographer known for his chronicling of life in [Harlem](/source/Harlem). ==Early life== Austin Hansen was born in 1910 in [Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands](/source/Saint_Thomas%2C_U.S._Virgin_Islands). He began taking photographs at age 12, and was assisted by the island's official photographer.{{cite book |last1=Wu |first1=Juliana |last2=Duren |first2=Joyce |title=Profiles in Black: Biographical Sketches of 100 Living Black Unsung Heroes |year=1976 |publisher=CORE Publications |isbn=978-0-917354-01-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l5gaAQAAIAAJ&q=Austin+Hansen+photographer |language=en}} He served in the [United States Navy](/source/United_States_Navy) as a photographer's mate.{{cite web |title=CNNfyi.com – Chasing the Dream |url=http://www.cnn.com/fyi/interactive/specials/bhm/story/hansen.html |website=www.cnn.com}}{{cite book |last1=Salzman |first1=Jack |last2=Smith |first2=David L. |last3=West |first3=Cornel |title=Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History |year=1996 |publisher=Macmillan Library Reference |isbn=978-0-02-897365-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T4QYAAAAIAAJ&q=Austin+Hansen+photographer |language=en}} He came to New York City in 1928, but racist attitudes of the time blocked him from employment despite an excellent reference from a naval officer for whom he had worked. He worked instead as a dishwasher and [elevator operator](/source/elevator_operator), and occasionally played the drums. ==Career== Hansen's first break came when he took a photograph of a young Black woman singing for [Eleanor Roosevelt](/source/Eleanor_Roosevelt) at an uptown hotel, which he sold to the [New York Amsterdam News](/source/New_York_Amsterdam_News) for $2. Building on this small start, he was eventually able to make photography his full-time profession and his portraits and news photographs captured life in [Harlem](/source/Harlem) for the next sixty years. He did portrait work at his studio, as well as freelancing for newspapers such as [The Chicago Defender](/source/The_Chicago_Defender) and the [Staten Island Advance](/source/Staten_Island_Advance). In addition to everyday community life such as weddings, street scenes, and Harlem architecture, Hansen captured images of notable political figures ([Haile Selassie](/source/Haile_Selassie), [Marcus Garvey](/source/Marcus_Garvey), [Martin Luther King Jr.](/source/Martin_Luther_King_Jr.)), authors ([Langston Hughes](/source/Langston_Hughes)), entertainers ([Count Basie](/source/Count_Basie), [Eartha Kitt](/source/Eartha_Kitt)), and others. Hansen was for decades the official photographer for the [Abyssinian Baptist Church](/source/Abyssinian_Baptist_Church) in Harlem, and documented events at the [Cathedral of St. John the Divine](/source/Cathedral_of_St._John_the_Divine) in [Morningside Heights](/source/Morningside_Heights). For the last five years of his life, he was [artist-in-residence](/source/artist-in-residence) at the [Photographic Center of Harlem](/source/Photographic_Center_of_Harlem). ==Legacy== Over the course of his life Hansen built a massive collection of over 500,000 portraits of Black Americans, ranging from churchmen and political leaders to everyday working-class people. More than 50,000 of his images are at the [Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture](/source/Schomburg_Center_for_Research_in_Black_Culture). Hansen was the subject of the film ''Search for Hansen: A Photographer of Harlem'', directed by Justin Bryant.{{cite book |last1=Wall |first1=C. Edward |title=Media Review Digest |year=2001 |publisher=Pierian Press |isbn=978-0-87650-387-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OboPAQAAMAAJ&q=Austin+Hansen+photographer |language=en}}{{cite book |title=The Library Journal: Chiefly Devoted to Library Economy and Bibliography |year=2000 |publisher=R.R. Bowker Company |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NzvhAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Search+for+Hansen:+A+photographer+of+harlem%22 |language=en}} ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== * [https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/collections/austin-hansen-collection#/?tab=navigation Austin Hansen photograph collection], [New York Public Library](/source/New_York_Public_Library) Digital Collections * [http://archives.nypl.org/scm/20601#overview Austin Hansen papers], [New York Public Library](/source/New_York_Public_Library) * [http://ahansenphotography.com/biography/ Official site] {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Hansen, Austin}} Category:African-American photographers Category:American portrait photographers Category:Photographers from New York City Category:1910 births Category:1996 deaths Category:20th-century African-American artists --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Austin Hansen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_Hansen) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_Hansen?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.