A close friend of White’s and a fellow member of the Committee for the Negro in the Arts (CNA) based in Harlem, Roy DeCarava was a pioneering figure in the history of 20th-century photography. DeCarava was the first black photographer to receive the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship, in 1952. In 1955 he opened A Photographer’s Gallery, one of the first galleries in the United States focused on the display and sale of photography as fine art. DeCarava’s ventures in photography likely influenced White to explore the medium. In turn, DeCarava was deeply moved by White’s “warmth of fellow feeling” and his “identification with ‘the mass of people who are disenfranchised and miserable.’” The humanist dimension of White’s work influenced the younger artist to explore similar themes in his own.