November 13, 2005
Gordon Parks: True Renaissance man (Part 1)
http://www.temple.edu/photo/photographers/parks2/biol.html
Photographer, writer, movie director, and composer, Gordon Parks is a giant among the men of any era. The youngest of fifteen children, Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks was born on November 30th 1912 to Sarah Ross Parks and Andrew Jackson Parks in Fort Scott, Kansas. Although the family was poor the parents instilled in the children the values of honor, education, and equality. Parks’ travels would begin at the age of 16 with the death of his mother. He was sent to St. Paul Minnesota to live with his sister and her husband. After an argument with his sister’s husband, he was asked to leave the house. He took a job as a busboy at the Hotel Lowry in St. Paul where in his spare time he played the piano and wrote songs. Upon being heard by a band leader, Parks was asked to join the band and go on tour. Sadly, the group disbanded while in New York City.
Early Interest in Photography
While working on the railroad, Parks became interested in photography. He would take his first pictures while traveling in Seattle WA. When he returned to Minneapolis, he dropped the film off at Eastman Kodak. According to Parks, “The man at Kodak told me the shots were very good and if I kept it up, they would give me an exhibition.” And it was Kodak that sponsored his first exhibition.
Against many obstacles, Parks began to make a name for himself as a fashion photographer. After seeing his work, Marva Louis (wife of boxing champ Joe Louis) persuaded Parks to move to Chicago to further his career. It was in Chicago that his documentary photographs won him a Julius Rosenwald Fellowship in 1942. The fellowship offered him his choice of employers and in January of 1942 he took a job with the Farm Security Administration (FSA) in Washington, D.C. When FSA was closed in 1943 he took a job with the Office of War Information. It was there that he began to write. He was assigned to photograph the training of the 332nd Fighter Group (also know as the Tuskegee Airmen). But his stay would be short. Not allowed to travel with the unit and document their participation in the war, Parks left the Office of War Information and moved back to Harlem.
Parks tried to secure a job with a major fashion magazine but many publishers like the Hearst Organization (Harper’s Bazaar), would not hire a Black man. But this did not discourage Parks. Famed photographer Edward Steichen was impressed with Parks’ work and sent him to the director of Vogue magazine, Alexander Liberman. Towards the end of 1944 Parks had photos appearing in both Glamour and Vogue magazines.
Posted by Steven Sanders at November 13, 2005 10:25 PM