Gordon Parks: How the Photographer Captured Black and White America

From blackwiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Gordon Parks.jpg
Gordon Parks2.jpg
Gordon Parks3.jpg

Gordon Parks: How the Photographer Captured Black and White America was written by Carole Boston Weatherford. She is a children's book author and poet who "mines the past for family stories, fading traditions, and forgotten struggles." A number of Weatherford's books tell the stories of African-American historical figures such as Harriet Tubman, Jesse Owens, and Billie Holiday. Other books recount historical events such as the Greensboro Sit-ins and the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. Weatherford's books have received a wide variety of awards, including a Caldecott Honor for Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom. [1]

Summary

His white teacher tells her all-black class, You'll all wind up porters and waiters. What did she know? Gordon Parks is most famous for being the first black director in Hollywood. But before he made movies and wrote books, he was a poor African American looking for work. When he bought a camera, his life changed forever. He taught himself how to take pictures and before long, people noticed. His success as a fashion photographer landed him a job working for the government. In Washington DC, Gordon went looking for a subject, but what he found was segregation. He and others were treated differently because of the color of their skin. Gordon wanted to take a stand against the racism he observed. With his camera in hand, he found a way. Told through lyrical verse and atmospheric art, this is the story of how, with a single photograph, a self-taught artist got America to take notice. [2]

Pros

One of the readers named Cathy gave her comments about this book. According to her this was an amazing book because the story was the honest and straightforward language about how African Americans were treated when Parks was young and when he was launching his career. Usually books, especially books for kids, try to soften things. She did not know who they think they're trying to protect, her best guess was that they didn't want to offend white readers by being to blunt about how awful things were, like somehow the children would be too upset by honesty or parents would be offended by the truth somehow. But this book was honest in a simple and clear way that just worked beautifully. For example, when he was a kid, his white teacher told the all-black classes that they'd all wind up porters and waiters, but he thought, "What did she know?" When he got older and went to Washington he saw whites-only signs in shop windows and learned firsthand that even if there was no sign, it didn't mean that a black man would be served. Simple language that didn't dance around the systemic racism that shaped his life and the lives of the people he chose to photograph. The author told his story with a clarity and purity that was just lovely. It was appropriate for kids but spoke to me as an adult as well. It was his story, it was personal, and yet universal. His art was beautiful and this book was a great way to honor him and introduce his work and his story to a new generation [1]

This picture book biography of the Renaissance man who successfully broke through many racial boundaries is a good introduction for young readers but it's unfortunately lacking in suggestions for further reading or web sites where readers could see examples of Parks's photography. [3]

African American photographer Gordon Parks, whose iconic 1942 photo “American Gothic” — showing a black cleaning woman standing in front of an American flag, holding a broom and a mop — became a lasting symbol for civil rights, a visual metaphor for racial inequity in the United States. Illustrations that recreate Parks’s photographs appear throughout to mark time, capture moments, and reflect the real-life work of “one of the most important photographers of the 20th century.” Browns, tans, and yellows infuse the images with warmth, while cooler hues blues and purples catch the light. An appended “About Gordon Parks” spread tells more about this humanitarian and “Renaissance man” who also wrote books, directed movies (Shaft), and composed music. [4]

Publishers Weekly gave their reviewed to this book too, they wrote that Christoph’s spreads echo the pared narrative with a muted palette and modest styling, but their impact is powerful. One shows Parks observing black families who live in rundown alley dwellings as the shiny, white U.S. Capitol building looms in the distance. An afterword fleshes out Parks’s story and includes a few b&w photos he took, including “American Gothic. [5]

References