Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks was born on November 30, 1912, in Fort Scott, Kansas. His father, Jackson Parks, was a vegetable farmer, and the family lived modestly. Parks faced aggressive discrimination as a child. He attended a segregated elementary school and was not allowed to participate in activities at his high school because of his race. The teachers actively discouraged African-American students from seeking higher education. After the death of his mother, Sarah, when he was 14, Parks left home. He lived with relatives for a short time before setting off on his own, taking whatever odd jobs he could find.
Parks had four children, his eldest son, filmmaker Gordon Parks Jr. died in a 1979 plane crash in Kenya. In 1938 he bought a camera and initially made a name for himself as a portrait and fashion photographer.
Style:
Parks became interested in the low-income black neighborhoods of Chicago's South Side.
While Woods painting (The American Gothic) is meant to capture an authentic scene of depression-era through the lens of a white farm couple, Parks’ recreation makes visible the often “invisible” labor performed by so many African-Americans in both rural and urban America. This photograph, one of Parks’ most famous works, was not only an indictment of America and what it means to be black in America, but even more so a challenge to the nation to live up to its magnificent creed; that all men are created equal.
The American Gothic Painting
This photo is notable for Parks’ ability to capture Ali’s complex personality. This portrait changes the expectations we have about this boxer, who had been stereotyped - either uneducated or a draft dodger, a ‘superhuman’ black athlete or black saint. Parks was able to capture Ali as not this big scary intimidating black athlete but one who was captured through his vulnerability that he has to conceal day in and day out because he knows that if he doesn’t then he would make the white man’s biggest fear come alive and that is to see a black man rise up.
In this series photo, Parks captures the roots of anger and frustration felt by African-Americans. Parks spent time with the Fontenelles, a family subjected to menial jobs, poor education, and terrible living conditions, to capture the plight of African-Americans in the United States in the 1960s. He began the series with a poem , which took on the voice of black Americans, speaking to the predominantly white readership of Life. Parks wrote “look at me. Listen to me. Try to understand my struggle against your racism”. You can’t because you will never be able to endure neither will your kids and your kids kids.
Philosophy:
Developed a style that allowed him to break the color line in professional photography while creating remarkably expressive images that consistently explored the social and economic impact of racism. During his migratory year serving train travelers, Parks had access for the first time to picture magazines the passengers left behind on their journeys. After seeing a spread featuring the portraits of migrant works, Parks bought his first camera - a Voightlander Brilliant - at a pawnshop in Seattle, Washington during a train layover. He then taught himself how to take photographs. As his eye developed, he married his new talent with his ability to connect with people, and his anger about deep-seated issues he saw across his travels in the United States. Parks sought to photograph what mattered to him: the humane side of all people, no matter their race, ethnicity, gender, or religious beliefs.
Influences:
Gordon Parks was an African-American who faced racial discrimination not only from his peers but by white adults also. He was always being told that he could not be anything and that he was nothing. I have too faced racial discrimination before both directly and indirectly. And because of Parks strength and resilience to never give up and to keep fighting no matter the struggle and no matter the hatred thrown at him he still was able to get up and do what he he loves and to make this cruel and hateful world just a little bit better and because of him it has made me a better visual artist and digital artist.
TomorrowLand
Dionne Ali
Standing Up
I know that the titles of these pictures are sort of obvious but I promise you the real story behind them are what what makes them uniquely rich. Between "American Gothic" (Parks') photo and my "TomorrowLand" they are somewhat similar and are somewhat different. Parks' "American Gothic" is telling the of what it means to be black in a country that doesn't even value who you are and does not care about your voice. The way the lady in his photo is standing with the two cleaning supplies and her face kinda sunken in she isn't happy with her life and what she has to settle for. I used a similar style with the American flag but I transparently put it over my siblings and I. My picture is about how America sees black people today. I mean sure we were freed and eventually given the chance to actually walk the same ground and sit in the same seat as white people but there is so much more work that this country has to do. For my second photo I took a picture of my friend in a similar pose as "Muhammad Ali" (Parks') photo. The Muhammad Ali photo is about seeing Ali for who he really is and not just by what some ignorant white Americans thought of him. We all know that Ali was a fighter both physically and mentally but he was not always strong just like the rest of us he has some weaknesses. And this picture perfectly captures his vulnerability for just a split second in time. My photo of my friend is different in terms of the background I had a very light background behind her. Dionne Ali is also captured in a moment of vulnerability for just a split second. The "Fontenelles At The Poverty Bank" by (Parks) and my photo is called standing up. Parks photo really evoked a deep emotion in me that really made me think. His photo was of a mother and her children sitting behind a counter at a bank in front of a white employee. he photo is about a mother who is struggling and is extremely tired you can see it on her face and her children faces. She is a strong black woman that is just trying to survive in a world that won't allow her. My picture is of course of a duck standing up on some ice with one leg. But the real meaning behind it is that it is similar to Parks' photo it captures a creature that is symbolized as freedom because of it's wings and freedom means to live a life full of happiness and not sorrow or struggle. Even though this bird does not have two legs he is still standing up strong and ready to fly.