NEW YORK — Much can be said about Langston Hughes.
The Harlem Renaissance poet, novelist, playwright, journalist and social activist was also an influencer, inspiring and encouraging some of the most creative minds of the century.
Among them was Griffith J. Davis, a photojournalist who used the power of the visual image to tell the important stories of his time.
The friendship these two artists shared is now part of an exhibition at Harlem’s globally recognized Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The exhibition titled “The Ways of Langston Hughes: Griff Davis and Black Artists in the Making” features iconic photographs and letters telling the story of this unique relationship that spanned decades. Black News & Views reporter Allison J. Davis took a tour of the exhibit. Her guide — Dorothy Davis, Griff Davis’s daughter and president of Griffith J. Davis Photographs and Archives.