Gordon Parks
Gordon Parks (1912-2006) was a prominent American photographer, director, musician, and writer best known for his Farm Security Administration (FSA) and Civil Rights era photographs. He was born into a life of poverty and segregation, but later went on to teach himself photography after seeing images of migrant workers published in a magazine. Notably, in 1944, Parks became the first African American photographer for Vogue, and later, the first African American staff photographer and writer for Life Magazine, where he worked from 1948–1970. During his tenure at Life, Parks explored stories about the social and economic impact of racism on the lived experiences of Black folks. He subsequently continued his photographic career and began to pursue writing and film.
Parks directed and wrote a film adaptation of his best selling novel, The Learning Tree, and later directed Shaft and Leadbelly. Parks won numerous awards including the National Medal of Arts, the Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism, Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Lifetime Achievement, The Jackie Robinson Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, and over fifty honorary doctorates. His photographic work is archived in several institutions, including the Gordon Parks Foundation (Pleasantville, NY); the Gordon Parks Museum/Center (Fort Scott, KS); the Library of Congress (Washington, DC); the Smithsonian Institution (Washington, DC); and Wichita State University.