Gordon parks photos

Parks, Gordon (1912–2006)

Gordon Parks was a world-renowned photographer, musician, film director, composer, author, and social justice activist. Best known for his documentary photojournalism that explored the impact of poverty and racial discrimination on communities of color, Parks’ photography appeared in many news and fashion publications, including Vogue and Life. He was the first African American to write, produce, and direct major motion pictures.

Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks was born to Sarah and Andrew Jackson Parks on November 30, 1912, in Fort Scott, Kansas. The youngest of fifteen children, Parks grew up in a community plagued by poverty and racial violence.

Following the death of his mother in 1928, the sixteen-year-old Parks moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, to live with his older sister. He then enrolled in Mechanic Arts High School and found a job bussing tables. Soon after, however, he had a fight with his ill-tempered brother-in-law and was kicked out. Parks found himself homeless in his first Minnesota winter. In his autobiography, A Choice of We

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Gordon Parks (November 30, 1912 – March 7, 2006), born into rural poverty, was a noted African-American photographer, musician, writer and film director, who became prominent in U.S. documentary photojournalism in the 1940s through 1970s—particularly in issues of civil rights, poverty and African-Americans—and in glamour photography. As the first famous pioneer among black filmmakers, he was first African-American to produce and direct major motion pictures—developing films relating the experience of slaves and struggling black Americans, and creating the “blaxploitation” genre. He is best remembered for his iconic photos of poor Americans during the 1940s (taken for a federal government project), for his photographic essays for Life magazine, and as the director of the 1971 film Shaft. Parks also was an author, poet and composer.[2][3][4][5]

Early Life

Parks was bor

Untitled, 1941

Gordon Parks, one of the greatest photographers of the twentieth century, was a humanitarian with a deep commitment to social justice. He left behind an exceptional body of work that documents American life and culture from the early 1940s into the 2000s, with a focus on race relations, poverty, civil rights, and urban life. Parks was also a distinguished composer, author, and filmmaker who interacted with many of the leading people of his era—from politicians and artists to athletes and celebrities.

Born into poverty and segregation in Fort Scott, Kansas, in 1912, Parks was drawn to photography as a young man when he saw images of migrant workers taken by Farm Security Administration (FSA) photographers in a magazine. After buying a camera at a pawnshop, he taught himself how to use it. Despite his lack of professional training, he won the Julius Rosenwald Fellowship in 1942; this led to a position with the photography section of the FSA in Washington, D.C., and, later, the Office of War Information (OWI). Working for these agencies, which were then

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