Gordon Parks, one of the greatest photographers of the twentieth century. I had heard of him, but really didn’t know anything about him until I started researching for this blog post. What a fascinating person he was!
He made a huge impact with his still photographs, and he also was a writer, film maker (he directed the movie “Shaft”), and composer.
Parks was born in Kansas in 1912. He was a self-taught photographer. He was inspired by the likes of Dorothea Lange. Parks said, “I saw that the camera could be a weapon against poverty, against racism, against all sorts of social wrongs. I knew at that point I had to have a camera.”
Parks won a prestigious fellowship that landed him a position at the Farm and Security Administration in Washington, D.C. Through his photographs, he showed the world the great disparity between black and white in our nation’s capital. In 1942 he created the iconic American Gothic, interpreting Grant Wood’s 1930 painting. American Gothic and many other photographs depicted life in Washington, D.C. through the experiences of Ella Watson.
In 1948, Parks became the first African American photographer and writer for “Life” magazine. Besides awakening the conscience of a nation, he also was an accomplished fashion photographer and photographed many celebrities. You can read more about him here. I also found this YouTube video fascinating.
