John Edwin Mason: Documentary, Motorsports, Photo History

Funky Friday: Gordon Parks, "Symphony for Shafted Souls"

Here's a post I never expected to write -- Funky Friday and Gordon Parks. Until a couple of days ago, I would have told you that it was more likely that Barry Manilow would show up on a Friday than Gordon Parks. As much as I admire him as a... Read more →

Gordon Parks/Life Magazine: American Teenagers in Paris, 1952

Gordon Parks was a serious man. His claim to greatness as a photographer and essayist rests on the work that he did for Life magazine, between 1948 and 1971, on some of the most pressing issues facing the nation and the world, especially poverty and racial injustice. But Parks had... Read more →

Funky Friday: Isaac Hayes, Gordon Parks & "Shaft"

Bringing together three of my favorite things this Funky Friday: Isaac Hayes, Gordon Parks, and Shaft. Hayes was, of course, one of the legendary composers and performers of the Soul era. Parks, in the '50s, '60s, and well into the '70s, was one of the best known photographers in America.... Read more →

Gordon Parks' "Harlem Family" Revisited

"A Harlem Family" was one of the most powerful photo-essays that Life magazine ever published. Gordon Parks' words and photos combined to pack a terrific punch. When the essay appeared in March 1968, it was an immediate journalistic triumph. That triumph quickly became a tragedy, in ways that I described... Read more →

Gordon Parks: "A Harlem Family," Life Magazine, 1968

It began as a challenge. Righteous anger propelled it forward. It moved many of Life magazine's readers to acts of generosity. Yet it ended in tragedy. What should have been a triumph became instead a reminder that the law of unintended consequences can exert its force in unimaginably heart-breaking ways.... Read more →

Roy DeCarava's Harlem

I'm writing a conference paper about a triumph that turned into a tragedy. The triumph was "A Harlem Famly," one of the most powerful photo-essays that Gordon Parks ever produced. When Life published it in 1968, it moved many of the magazine's readers to reach out to the troubled and... Read more →

Photo Book of the Year, 2013: Gordon Parks' Collected Works

Drum roll, please. The Photo Book of the Year for 2013 is Gordon Parks: Collected Works, published by Steidl. Originally scheduled to have been released in November, it looks as though it won't see the light of day until January. So, yes, 2013. I'm being more than half serious. I... Read more →