Gordon Parks

Born: November 30, 1912

Place: Fort Scott, Kanas

Died: March 7, 2006 (aged 93)

Place: Manhattan, New York

BACKGROUND:

Gordon Parks was born in Fort Scott, Kansas to Jackson Parks, a farmer, and Sarah Ross, and was the youngest of 15 children. Due to the time period, Parks attended a segregated elementary school. However, due to living in a small town and there not being enough funding, his high school was made up of both black and white students. Despite this, black students were not allowed to participate in extra-curricular activities, including sports and clubs, and were also highly discouraged from receiving post-high school education. Parks states that a teacher told him the college was a "waste of money". Parks was only 14 years old when his mother died, and often would sit by her coffin for consoling. Being the youngest, Parks was sent to St. Paul, Minnesota to live with his sister and her husband. However, he was soon thrown out, leaving him to be homeless at 15 years old. Parks worked many odd jobs to earn some money: singer, busboy, and even semi-pro basketball player.

PHOTOGRAPHY CAREER:

Gordon Parks was first exposed to photography at eight years old when he was in awe of photographs of migrant workers in a magazine. He bought his first camera in Seattle, Washington and taught himself how to take pictures. He was encouraged by those around him, including the clerk who developed his photos, even urging him to look for job opportunities in clothing stores around St. Paul. Some of his photos were seen by Marva Louis, wife of a heavyweight champion, who encouraged him to move to Chicago to work at a business that specialized in portraits of women. Parks captured many pictures of the experiences of African Americans around Chicago. In 1942, Parks received the Julius Rosenwald Fellowship, earning him $200 a month. Parks then became a freelance portrait and fashion photographer. He also started highlighting "black ghettos" in his exhibitions, earning him a fellowship with the Farm Security Administration (FSA). He even retook the American Gothic painting featuring a black laborer. Regarding his profession in fashion photography, Parks freelance photographer at Vogue under Alexander Liberman. He also had photos published in Life magazine in 1965 which highlighted racial segregation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Parks