Black Art Matters
The Enduring Legacy of Gordon Parks
Travel down memory lane with one of the greatest photographers of all time
In photographer Gordon Parks’ 1971 book Born Black, members of the Black Panther Party pose at their headquarters in Berkley, California; the Fontenelle family battles poverty; and men from the Fruit of Islam run drills with their arms outstretched in powerful black and white photos. The collection of images and essays commissioned by Life magazine, where Parks was the first African American staff photographer, covers critical moments and figures from 1960–1970, including Muhammad Ali’s 1966 fight with Londoner Henry Cooper and Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1968 funeral.
The late Parks was a celebrated filmmaker, musician, and artist. Much of his work centered on Black life, with all its beauty and adversity. Parks spent time with his subjects, which ranged from gang leaders to Black activists and families struggling to make ends meet. He learned how they lived and what they valued in an attempt to capture their truths. Often, those images brought significant issues such as racism and violence to the forefront. A deep well of his groundbreaking images, books, and films can be found online in the Gordon Parks Foundation’s archive.
What the camera had to do…
