Gordon Parks

Jacob Cavenee

8 March 2016

Art 177

Professor Pease

Gordon Parks

            Grown into poverty, Gordon Parks was born in 1912 in Fort Scott, Kansas as the youngest of fifteen children. His parents who worked in the farming industry lived very modestly and practiced the Methodist religion (Biography.com). Gordon Parks faced harsh discrimination as a child, being neglected and unappreciated (Biography.com). After his mother passed, Parks moved in with his sister and her husband in Minnesota (Encyclopedia.com). On Christmas eve, after an argument with his brother-in-law, Parks was kicked out of their house (Encyclopedia.com). After taking various jobs and touring with a band for a little, Parks ended up in New York City. After getting married to Sally Avis, Parks moved back to his hometown St. Paul to find work and had three children (Encyclopedia.com).

            Parks had always had interest with photography since he was a boy. Seeing photos of migrant workers in magazines inspired him. He bought his first camera at a pawnshop when he was 25 (The Gordon Parks Foundation). “I bought my first camera in a pawn shop there. It was a Voigtlander Brilliant and cost $12.50. With such a brand name, I could not resist” (Encyclopedia.com). Parks first pictures were taken in Seattle towards the beach front. After dropping them off at Kodak, “The man at Kodak told me the shots we very good and if I kept it up, they would give me an exhibition. Later, Kodak gave me my first exhibition” (Encyclopedia.com). After experimenting with his photography, he gained popularity as a fashion photographer (Encyclopedia.com). After being recognized by Marva Louis, the wife of the famous boxer Joe Louis, Parks moved to Chicago to pursue more into fashion photography. After winning the Julius Rosenwald Fellowship in 1942, Parks relocated to Washington D.C. to work for the FSA (Encyclopedia.com). He was assigned to show the social injustice of discrimination in the Washington D.C. area. After photographing Ella Watson, a cleaning maid at the FSA offices, it became one of his famous images (Encyclopedia of World Biography). In 1969, Gordon Parks became the first African American to direct a major film, for the movie The Learning Tree. (Biography.com). After producing another film and writing his own books. Receiving various awards like the National Medal of Arts from Ronald Reagan, to writing a ballet tribute for Martin Luther King (Encyclopedia of World Biography). Gordon parks passed away on March 7,2006 at 93, due to high blood pressure and prostate cancer in his Manhattan home (Encyclopedia of World Biography). I really appreciate the type of photography that he did. The way he displayed a powerful message of segregation in his photographs is so real and dramatic. From all the hardships he went through in his life, he really left his mark in the photography world. Showing everyone that if you persevere, you can achieve any greatness you work hard for.

Photos from: Mutualart.com and Gordonparksfoundation.org          

Works Cited

"Biography." - The Gordon Parks Foundation. The Gordon Parks Foundation, n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2016.

Biography.com editors "Gordon Parks." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2016.

"Parks, Gordon." Contemporary Black Biography. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 8 Mar. 2016 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Gordon Parks Biography." - Life, Family, Children, Wife, School, Mother, Young, Son. Encyclopedia of World Biography, n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2016.