Allen was born in New York City, and by the late 1920s he built a photography studio in which many of the elites from the era was photographed.
Among the figures he photographed includes Langston Hughes, Paul Robeson, Alain Locke, and Carl Van Vechten.
[1] These images were called portraits of distinction, and featured important figures to the Harlem Renaissance such as Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen.
Allen's work appeared in several popular publications by proponents and supporters of the Harlem Renaissance movement, such as The Opportunity, The Messenger, and The Crisis.
[2] He was featured in the 1930s film A Study of Negro Artists, along with Richmond Barthé, Aaron Douglas, Palmer Hayden, William Ellisworth Artis, Malvin Gray Johnson, Augusta Savage, Lois Mailou Jones, and Georgette Seabrooke, and others.