A trove of works from the archive of photographer Shawn Walker will find a new home at the Library of Congress, the organization announced Wednesday. The collection contains nearly 100,000 photographs, negatives and transparencies that capture Harlem from the 1960s to the present. The photographs range from poignant images of daily life to that of prominent cultural figures, such as Maya Angelou, Spike Lee and Toni Morrison.

“A lifetime resident of Harlem, I have tried to document the world around me, particularly the African American community, especially in Harlem, from an honest perspective so that our history is not lost,” Walker said in a statement.

Walker was a founding member of the Harlem-based Kamoinge Workshop, an influential collective of Black photographers established in New York City in 1963. Through regular meetings, exhibitions and publications, the group pushed back against racial discrimination within mainstream media. The library’s collection will feature around 2,500 items from the photographers, which included artists Anthony Barboza, Louis Draper, Adger Cowans, Albert Fenner, Ray Francis and more.

“I collected these materials over the years since joining Kamoinge as a founding member (with the least amount of photographic experience) in 1963,” Walker said. “Kamoinge was my Sorbonne, with my introduction to and discussions and lessons on film and printing, photography, jazz, painting, literature and the other arts.”

According to the announcement, the acquisition marks the first comprehensive archive of an African American photographer to be added to the library’s holdings. The collection will also include ephemera and audio recordings.

Those in New York City who would like to see work from the Kamoinge Workshop in person will have a chance to do so at the Whitney this summer. After a stint at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the exhibition “Working Together: The Photographers of the Kamoinge Workshop” will travel to the Whitney, where it will be on view from July to Oct. 2020. The installation will include photographs from Walker and 14 members of the collective.

Top Image: Detail of photographer Shawn Walker's “Neighbor at 124 W 117th St, Harlem, New York,” ca. 1970-1979. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.