Sunday, February 12, 2017

Photos Minute: Deep South and Harlem after World War Two


The great divide: Powerful photographs lay bare the crippling poverty and segregation of the south 
The images were taken by photographer and film-maker Gordon Parks in California, Alabama and Harlem 
Parks, who was born in Kansas in 1912, was an author, poet and composer who worked for Life and Vogue
These images have been released alongside new book titled I Am You which celebrates his pioneering work 
An exhibition titled Gordon Parks: Back to Fort Scott is on show at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
I Am You is published by The Gordon Parks Foundation, c/o Berlin and Steidl 


                                                           
Gordon Parks was the first African-American to produce and direct films, many of which related the experience of slaves and struggling black Americans


Poverty: Some of Parks' work focussed on one family in Harlem. This photo is titled The Fontenelles at the Poverty Board and was take in Harlem, New York in 1967


Struggle: This untitled photo, taken in Harlem, New York in 1948, shows a young African-American man cycling through a street where poor children wash with a hose


Contrast: Not all of Parks's work focussed on black poverty. This untitled photo of three women playing chess was taken in New York in 1958


Natural: This photo called Boy with June Bug was taken in Fort Scott, Kansas in 1963. The boy lies peacefully in the grass with a beetle on his head


Having a blast: This untitled photo, taken in Alabama in 1956 shows two black boys playing with a white boy outside a house


Riches: This photo called Jeweled Cap was taken in Malibu, California in 1958. It shows a woman in A bathing suit with a ruby in her hat


Family: This photo is called Mr. and Mrs. Albert Thornton and was taken at their home in Mobile, Alabama in 1956


Pioneer: Photojournalist Parks, born in Kansas in 1912, was an author, poet and composer who worked for Life and Vogue. Pictured: An untitled photo of a family believed to have been taken in Harlem in the 1940s

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