Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950

Washington, D.C. Government charwoman (detail), July 1942. Gordon Parks (American, 1912–2006). Gelatin silver print; 23.7 x 18.2 cm. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., LC-USF34-013407-C [P&P]. Farm Security Administration / Office of War Information Photograph
Washington, D.C. Government charwoman, July 1942. Gordon Parks (American, 1912–2006). Gelatin silver print; 23.7 x 18.2 cm. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., LC-USF34-013407-C [P&P]. Farm Security Administration / Office of War Information Photograph
Self-Portrait, 1941. Gordon Parks (American, 1912–2006). Gelatin silver print; 50.8 x 40.6 cm. Private collection. Courtesy of and copyright The Gordon Parks Foundation
Grain Boat taking on a load of wheat, Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada, October 1945. Gordon Parks (American, 1912–2006). Gelatin silver print; 26.7 x 26.8 cm. George Eastman Museum, gift of Standard Oil of New Jersey, 1980.0536.0009. Courtesy of and copyright The Gordon Parks Foundation
Tenement Dwellers, Chicago, 1950. Gordon Parks (American, 1912–2006). Gelatin silver print; 27.3 x 35.6 cm. The Gordon Parks Foundation. Courtesy of and copyright The Gordon Parks Foundation
Paris Fashions, 1949. Gordon Parks (American, 1912–2006). Gelatin silver print; 29.5 x 19.7 cm. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Corcoran Collection (The Gordon Parks Collection), 2016.117.149. Courtesy of and copyright The Gordon Parks Foundation
Boys Looking in Car Window, Harlem, August 1943. Gordon Parks (American, 1912–2006). Gelatin silver print; 19.4 x 27.6 cm. Photographs and Prints Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. Courtesy of and copyright The Gordon Parks Foundation
View of passenger aboard a Staten Island ferry, New York City., August 1948. Gordon Parks (American, 1912–2006). Gelatin silver print; 23.5 x 23.2 cm. Standard Oil (New Jersey) Collection, Photographic Archives, University of Louisville, SONJ Archives–72775. Courtesy of and copyright The Gordon Parks Foundation

Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950

Sat, 03/23/2019 to Sun, 06/09/2019

The Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation Exhibition Gallery

The pioneering African American photographer Gordon Parks (1912–2006) considered his work during the 1940s and ’50s to be the benchmark for his 60-year career. Focusing on extensive new research, Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950 documents the importance of Parks’s early experiences—from his immersion in the Chicago Black Renaissance to his friendships with Roy Stryker, Richard Wright, and Ralph Ellison—in shaping his groundbreaking, passionate vision. The exhibition traces his rapid evolution from an accomplished, self-taught practitioner to an independent artistic and journalistic voice widely communicating a meaningful and coherent understanding of critical social and cultural issues.

Produced at a time when images began to proliferate in picture magazines and on television, Parks’s early commissions—ranging from commercial, government, and industrial to fashion and journalism—provide an engaging study of the competing purposes and meanings of his photographs. In addition, the exhibition and accompanying catalogue examine the role of government and corporate archives in encouraging creativity and innovation in photography, the importance of World War II in establishing a role for photography in the civil rights movement, and the expanding function of mass media in creating and distributing a new visual culture.

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Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950