Gordon Parks, an in-depth view.

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Gordon Parks



Black photographer who exposed poverty in America and directed the first blaxploitation films

Christopher Reed
Thursday March 9, 2006
The Guardian


Early in his remarkably diverse career, Gordon Parks, who has died from cancer aged 93, became convinced he could accomplish anything he desired. This conviction served him well, as it had to, because as a poor black in America, Parks had no establishment to help him. He was on his own.
Yet such was his multitude of talents that he became an influential photographer and the first black staffer on Life magazine; the first black director of a major Hollywood film, as well as creator of the blaxploitation genre with the Shaft movie dramas; an author of popular books and memoirs; a published poet; and a composer and musician. In all of this, he was self-taught.


Yet such was his multitude of talents that he became an influential photographer and the first black staffer on Life magazine; the first black director of a major Hollywood film, as well as creator of the blaxploitation genre with the Shaft movie dramas; an author of popular books and memoirs; a published poet; and a composer and musician. In all of this, he was self-taught.


Parks's interest in photography was sparked while he was working as a waiter on a transcontinental train in 1937, and a passenger left behind a magazine showing dramatic pictures of impoverished migrant workers taken by participants in a depression-era farm programme. They so inspired Parks that at the next stop, Seattle, he bought a camera at a pawn shop for $7.50.
Three years later, after perfecting his technique with thousands of pictures, he called on a smart department store in St Paul, Minnesota, and persuaded the white owner to let him take its fashion photos. His work was seen by boxer Joe Louis's wife Marva, who was so impressed that she suggested Parks move to Chicago, where she could help him find work among the socially fashionable. This he did - but he also began documenting the city's poverty.

NOTE: Thanks to Englander for forwarding this link.