John Edwin Mason: Documentary, Motorsports, Photo History

Gordon Parks, Ella Watson, a Boy, a Bugle, and the American Flag

Pictures are complicated. So is being black in America. Throughout his life, Gordon Parks wrestled with both of these enduring truths. At first glance, Gordon Parks' most famous photo -- his portrait of Ella Watson -- looks pretty simple. Gordon Parks/Farm Security Administration: Government Charwoman (Ella Watson). Washington, D.C., August... Read more →

For Veterans Day: David Parks' G.I. Diary

This brief post is about an unexpected coincidence. I just heard from my friend, David Parks, a photographer and filmmaker who is the son of the legendary photographer, writer, filmmaker, and composer Gordon Parks. David sent me a link to a video that showcases photos that he made when he... Read more →

LaToya Ruby Fazier: A MacArthur "Genius" Award and a Thank-You to Gordon Parks

I've never met a genius. I've spent the last 25 years teaching in major research universities. Before that I went to an awfully good grad school, and I'd still be hard pressed to say that I've met anyone that I'd call a genius -- somebody, that is, with the dazzling,... Read more →

Updates (Finally!): Margaret Bourke-White, Gordon Parks, Kamoinge, & En Foco

It's been a long time -- too long a time -- since I updated this blog. And I'm pretty sure that my regular readers (all three or four of them) have departed for more entertaining pastures. To them I say, please come back. Why have I been so silent? In... Read more →

"Wow, Quel Babes!": Gordon Parks & American Teens in Paris, 1952

Gordon Parks was a serious man. His claim to fame as a photographer rests on the searing photo-essays that he produced for Life magazine on issues such as poverty and racial justice. But he had a lighter side, and he revealed it, from time to time, to Life's readers. Today... Read more →

Gordon Parks & Flavio da Silva: Rio de Janeiro, 1961

Once in a long while, photographers have assignments that follow them -- and sometimes haunt them -- for the rest of their lives. Gordon Parks, one of the twentieth century's greatest photo-essayists, produced at least two of these stories. One involved the Fontenelles, an impoverished family in New York's Harlem.... Read more →

Gordon Parks: "The Making of an Argument," New Orleans Museum of Art

It's the season of Gordon Parks. Still. Over the last year or so, Parks' photography has been more visible and more appreciated than at perhaps any time since the 1960s and '70s. In 2012, he was the subject of several major exhibitions in New York. Earlier this year, Steidl issued... Read more →