June Carter Cash
Musical Monikers
Madonna
Justin Bieber
My Ghost Story
I Survived
Babe Ruth
Johnny Cash
Georgia O'Keefe
I Survived
1 photo
Quick Facts
- NAME: Gordon Parks
- OCCUPATION: Photographer, Director, Songwriter, Pianist, Writer
- BIRTH DATE: November 30, 1912
- DEATH DATE: March 07, 2006
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Fort Scott, Kansas
- PLACE OF DEATH: New York, New York
- Full Name: Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks
- AKA: Gordon Parks
Best Known For
Gordon Parks was an African-American photographer, filmmaker and author, best known for his work published in LIFE magazine and for directing the hit movie Shaft.
Quiz
Think you know about Biography?
Answer questions and see how you rank against other players.
Play NowGordon Parks. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 05:59, May 24, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/gordon-parks-37379.
Gordon Parks. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/gordon-parks-37379 [Accessed 24 May 2013].
"Gordon Parks." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 24 2013, 05:59 http://www.biography.com/people/gordon-parks-37379.
"Gordon Parks," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/gordon-parks-37379 [accessed May 24, 2013].
"Gordon Parks," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/gordon-parks-37379 (accessed May 24, 2013).
Gordon Parks [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 24] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/gordon-parks-37379.
Gordon Parks, http://www.biography.com/people/gordon-parks-37379 (last visited May 24, 2013).
Gordon Parks. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/gordon-parks-37379. Accessed May 24, 2013.
Synopsis
Born on November 30, 1912, in Fort Scott, Kansas, Gordon Parks was a self-taught artist who became the first African-American photographer for Life and Vogue magazines. He also pursued movie directing and screenwriting, working at the helm of the films The Learning Tree, based on a novel he wrote, and Shaft. Parks has published several memoirs and retrospectives as well, including A Choice of Weapons.
Quotes
"People in millenniums ahead will know what we were like in the 1930's and the thing that, the important major things that shaped our history at that time. This is as important for historic reasons as any other."
"There's another horizon out there, one more horizon that you have to make for yourself and let other people discover it, and someone else will take it further on, you know."
"I suffered evils, but without allowing them to rob me of the freedom to expand."
Early Life
Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks was born on November 30, 1912, in Fort Scott, Kansas. His father, Jackson Parks, was a vegetable farmer, and the family lived modestly.
Parks faced aggressive discrimination as a child. He attended a segregated elementary school and was not allowed to participate in activities at his high school because of his race. The teachers actively discouraged African-American students from seeking higher education. After the death of his mother, Sarah, when he was 14, Parks left home. He lived with relatives for a short time before setting off on his own, taking whatever odd jobs he could find.
Famed Photographer
Parks purchased his first camera at the age of 25 after viewing photographs of migrant workers in a magazine. His early fashion photographs caught the attention of Marva Louis, wife of the boxing champion Joe Louis, who encouraged Parks to move to a larger city. Parks and his wife, Sally, relocated to Chicago in 1940.
Parks began to explore subjects beyond portraits and fashion photographs in Chicago. He became interested in the low-income black neighborhoods of Chicago's South Side. In 1941, Parks won a photography fellowship with the Farm Security Administration for his images of the inner city. Parks created some of his most enduring photographs during this fellowship, including "American Gothic, Washington, D.C.," picturing a member of the FSA cleaning crew in front of an American flag.
After the FSA disbanded, Parks continued to take photographs for the Office of War Information and the Standard Oil Photography Project. He also became a freelance photographer for Vogue. Parks worked for Vogue for a number of years, developing a distinctive style that emphasized the look of models and garments in motion, rather than in static poses.
Relocating to Harlem, Parks continued to document city images and characters while working in the fashion industry. His 1948 photographic essay on a Harlem gang leader won Parks a position as a staff photographer for LIFE magazine, the nation's highest-circulation photographic publication. Parks held this position for 20 years, producing photographs on subjects including fashion, sports and entertainment as well as poverty and racial segregation. He was also took portraits of African-American leaders, including Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael and Muhammad Ali.
Parks launched a writing career during this period, beginning with his 1962 autobiographical novel, The Learning Tree. He would publish a number of books throughout his lifetime, including a memoir, several works of fiction and volumes on photographic technique.
profile name: Gordon Parks profile occupation:
Your Connections
Sign in with Facebook to see how you and your friends are connected to famous icons.
Profile Connections
Included In These Groups
-
Famous Harlem Residents
View groupAfter the Civil War, many of the country's best and brightest black advocates, artists, entrepreneurs and intellectuals moved to the New York City neighborhood of Harlem. Thanks largely to the efforts of these residents, Harlem became both the cradle of a cultural revolution and the heart of the civil rights movement. Meet some of the many people who gave—and continue to give—this neighborhood a voice, simply by calling it home.
Famous Harlem Residents 62 people in this group
-
Famous Black Artists
View groupThey are the famous African-American artists who have exquisitely shared portrayals of historic events and individuals, cultural perspectives, and the experiences and struggles of minorities through their artwork. Examine our list of pivotal black artists, including Jean-Michel Basquiat, who helped to bring African-American and Latino experiences into the elite art world through his graffiti works; Augusta Savage, a sculptor and leading artist of the Harlem Renaissance, who experienced racial discrimination by an art program's selection committee; and Kara Walker, who has used paper silhouettes to depict race and gender relations.
Famous Black Artists 16 people in this group
-
African-American Firsts: Film & TV
View groupFrom stereotypical roles as maids and cooks to Academy Award-winning performances in blockbuster movies, African-Americans have come a long way in the world of film and TV. Early stars like Sidney Portier and Hattie McDaniel may have been the first actors to win awards for their stellar performances, but modern-day actors such as Denzel Washington and Halle Berry are still breaking new ground as the first African-Americans to win Oscars, Emmys and Golden Globes in certain categories. Learn about the African-American actors who became the first to change the fabric film and TV with their dramatic performances.
African-American Firsts: Film & TV 18 people in this group
presented by African-American Firsts: Film & TV
