Gordon Parks was a photographer and film director, who started his career as a portrait photographer in Chicago during the 1940s. In 1942 he was awarded a Rosenwald Fellowship that provided him a monthly income and led to a job as a government photographer for the Farm Services Administration and the Office of War Information. In the late 1940s, Vogue hired him to do a fashion shoot, where he remained for some time and began having his work published as books.
In the 1950s he began doing Hollywood work, directing documentaries for NET. In 1969, Warner Bros. hired him for "The Learning Tree" and he became the first mainstream black filmmaker. He found a groove in this industry and basically created the "blaxploitation" genre with the film "Shaft," starring Richard Roundtree.
Although his most commercial success was likely his filmmaking, it is his work as a photographer that leaves the most indelible mark on American history. His photograph "American Gothic" (named after the famous painting) is an iconic image.
He documented many of the important events of his times. He photographed and befriended many of the most important black Americans of the 20th Century, including Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael, Muhammad Ali, and others. Parks was the godfather of Qubilah Shabazz, Malcolm X's daughter.
Parks was a renaissance man: as well as his work as a photographer and filmmaker, he was a painter, writer and musician. If you are not familiar with his work, find it today.
Watch MoMA's Virtual Views video:
https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/5235
https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/5235
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