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Bare Witness: Photographs
by Gordon Parks
May 9 - August 3, 2008
The Saint Louis Art
Museum is presenting Bare Witness: Photographs by Gordon Parks, a
retrospective exhibition of more than 50 photographs 
representing
the finest works of the artist's prolific career. These images were selected
by Parks himself before his death in 2006. (right: Gordon Parks,
American, 1912-2006; American Gothic, 1942, printed 2003; gelatin
silver print; 24 x 20 inches; Lent by The Capital Group Foundation, 2002.05
© 2006 The Gordon Parks Foundation)
Few photographers offer a record of 20th-century life as
candid and provocative as Gordon Parks. Born in Fort Scott, Kansas in 1912,
he began working professionally in the early 1940s. He generated one of
his most enduring images, American Gothic, in 1942 as part of a documentary
project in Washington, D.C. The photograph is a reference to Grant Wood's
famous painting of the same name and depicts a black cleaning woman holding
a broom against a backdrop of an American flag. The image conveys the hardship
of the woman's life and the unfulfilled promise of equality for African
Americans.
From 1948-1972, Parks served as staff photographer for
LIFE magazine. With a straightforward and sympathetic eye, he investigated
a range of pressing social issues including crime and urban decay in Harlem,
segregation in Alabama, disease in the slums of Brazil and the struggle
for civil rights by the Black Muslims. Parks dramatized these issues through
his portrayal of the day-to-day struggles of individuals and families that
he grew to know well. Parks firmly believed in the power of the camera to
shed light on social inequity.
Throughout his career, Parks also composed images of fashion
models, musicians, writers, artists, actors and sports figures for publications
such as Vogue. The exhibition features portraits of several celebrities
including Ingrid Bergman, Duke Ellington and Muhammad Ali.
Bare Witness: Photographs by Gordon Parks was organized by the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual
Arts at Stanford University.
Wall text from the exhibition
- Bare Witness: Photographs by Gordon Parks
-
- Gordon Parks was an artist of many media: photographer, composer, filmmaker,
and author. As a photographer, he created one of the most candid and provocative
records of 20th century life. He tackled issues of racism and poverty in
photo-essays on the pages of Life, the largest-circulation picture
magazine of its day. In addition, he took exemplary pictures of celebrities,
musicians, artists, and fashion models. This retrospective exhibition-comprised
of 54 images selected by Parks himself before his death in 2006-represents
the greatest achievements of his distinguished career.
-
- Born in Fort Scott, Kansas in 1912, Parks began working professionally
in the early 1940s. He firmly believed in the power of the camera to shed
light on social inequity, having overcome barriers of prejudice in his
own life. Parks was the first African American to work for the Farm Security
Administration, the Office of War Information, and Life magazine.
With a straightforward and sympathetic eye, he investigated a range of
pressing social issues including racial segregation, urban decay, and the
fight for civil rights. Parks dramatized these issues through his portrayal
of the day-to-day struggles of individuals and families that he grew to
know well.
-
- Bare Witness: Photographs by Gordon Parks was organized by the
Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University.
The exhibition and its accompanying catalogue are made possible by generous
support from The Capital Group Foundation, the Cantor Arts Center's Hohbach
Family Fund, and Cantor Arts Center's Members. This exhibition's presentation
at the Saint Louis Art Museum is made possible by Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Foundation.
-
-
- Gordon Parks: Chronology
-
- 1912 Born November 30, Fort Scott, Kansas
- 1938 Purchases first camera in Seattle, Washington
- 1940 Receives first professional photography job as a
fashion photographer for a boutique in St. Paul, Minnesota
- 1941 Creative Photography exhibition at the South Side
Community Center, Chicago, Illinois
- 1942 Awarded the first Julius Rosenwald Fellowship for
photography
- 1942-43 Photographer for the Farm Security Administration
- 1943-44 War correspondent photographer for the Office
of War Information
- 1944-48 Corporate photographer for Standard Oil Company
of New Jersey
- 1947-48 Publishes the technical manuals Flash Photography
and Camera Portraits:
- The Techniques and Principles of Documentary Portraiture
- 1948-72 First African-American staff photographer
for Life magazine
- 1970-73 Founding editor of Essence magazine
- 1971 Directs the film Shaft
- 1988 Awarded National Medal of Honor
- 1997 Retrospective exhibition Half Past Autumn at
the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
- 2006 Dies March 6, New York City
Additional images from the exhibition
(above: Gordon Parks, American, 1912-2006; Muhammad Ali,
1970, printed 2003; gelatin silver print; 24 x 20 inches; Lent by The Capital
Group Foundation, 2002.47 © 2006 The Gordon Parks Foundation)
(above: Gordon Parks, American, 1912-2006; Mrs. Jefferson,
Fort Scott, 1949, printed 2003; gelatin silver print; 20 x 16 inches;
Lent by The Capital Group Foundation, 2002.46 © 2006 The Gordon Parks
Foundation)
(above: Gordon Parks, American, 1912-2006; Ingrid Bergman
at Stromboli, 1949, printed 2003; gelatin silver print; 16 x 20 inches;
Lent by The Capital Group Foundation, 2002.35 © 2006 The Gordon Parks
Foundation)
(above: Gordon Parks, American, 1912-2006; Children with
Doll (Ella Watson's Grandchildren), 1942, printed 2003; gelatin silver
print; 11 x 14 inches; Lent by The Capital Group Foundation, 2002.13 ©
2006 The Gordon Parks Foundation)
(above: Gordon Parks, American, 1912-2006; Black Muslim
Rally, New York, 1963, printed 2003; gelatin silver print; 16 x 20 inches;
Lent by The Capital Group Foundation, 2002.09 © 2006 The Gordon Parks
Foundation)
Object labels from the exhibition
- Albia and Isabel, the Favela, 1961, printed 2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- 2008.173
-
-
- Battered Man, 1943, printed 2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- 2008.177
-
-
- Black Muslim Rally, New York, 1963, printed 2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- 2008.179
-
-
- Black Muslim Schoolchildren in Chicago, 1963, printed 2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- 2008.180
-
-
- Boy with June Bug, 1963, printed 2003
- dye destruction print
-
- 2008.183
-
-
- Brothers of the Killers Selected to Judge (Malcolm X Asleep on the
Airplane), 1963, printed 2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- 2008.184
-
-
- Children with Doll (Ella Watson's Grandchildren), 1942, printed
2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- 2008.185
-
-
- Drugstore Cowboys, Blind River, Ontario, 1945, printed 2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- 2008.188
-
-
- Family in Their Living Room, Fort Scott, 1949, printed 2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- 2008.194
-
-
- Flavio da Silva, Rio de Janeiro, 1961, printed 2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- 2008.198
-
-
- Flavio Feeding Zacarias, 1961, printed 2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- 2008.200
-
-
- Fontenelle Children Outside Their Harlem Tenement, 1967, printed
2003
- gelatin silver print
-
-
- 2008.202
-
-
- Frisco Railway Station, Fort Scott, 1949, printed 2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- 2008.203
-
-
- Gambling Woman, 1949, printed 2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- 2008.204
-
-
- Gang Member with Brick, 1948, printed 2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- 2008.205
-
-
- Grease Plant Worker, 1945, printed 2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- 2008.206
-
-
- Harlem Street Scene with Fire Escape and Children Playing in Water,
c.1943, printed 2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- 2008.208
-
-
- Isabel beside Sick Father, 1961, printed 2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- 2008.213
-
-
- Man with Straw Hat, Washington, D.C., 1942, printed 2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- 2008.221
-
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- Mother and Children, Birmingham, Alabama, 1956, printed 2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- 2008.223
-
-
- Muhammad Ali, c.1970, printed 2003
- dye destruction print
-
- 2008.226
-
-
- Muhammad Ali after Cooper Fight in London (Hands), 1966, printed
2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- 2008.227
-
-
- Night Rumble, 1948, printed 2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- 2008.229
-
-
- Norman Sr., 1967, printed 2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- 2008.231
-
-
- Storefront, Alabama, 1956, printed 2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- 2008.236
-
-
- Tenement Dwellers, 1949, printed 2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- 2008.238
-
-
- Willie Causey's Son with Gun During Violence in Alabama, 1956,
printed 2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- 2008.242
-
-
- Eastern State Exposition, Parents Watching Their Children on a Ferris
Wheel, Springfield, Massachusetts, 1947
- gelatin silver print
-
- Saint Louis Art Museum, Museum Shop Fund 196:1989
-
-
- Ice Cream Parlor, Ontario, 1945, printed 2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- 2008.210
-
-
- Norman Jr. Reading in Bed, 1967, printed 2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- 2008.230
-
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- Life magazine, June 16, 1961
-
-
- Ella Watson and Her Grandchildren, 1942, printed 2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- Parks photographed Ella Watson in her home and as she traveled throughout
her neighborhood. In this complex portrait, Parks skillfully incorporated
four generations into one image. On the left, Watson sits in her kitchen
surrounded by her grandchildren. On the right, her adopted daughter sits
in the adjacent bedroom and appears as a reflection in the mirror, while
a framed photograph of Watson's parents rests on the dressing table.
-
- 2008.191
-
-
- Harlem Street at the Lord's Cross, 1943, printed 2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- A suspended cross silhouetted against a whitened sky serves as the
focal point of this Harlem street scene. It reflects Parks's sense of the
quiet dominance of religion in that community. In his autobiography, A
Hungry Heart, Parks said of his first impressions of Harlem: "Churches,
churches and churches. Harlem seemed to be stuffed with religion."
-
- 2008.207
-
-
- Red Jackson, 1948, printed 2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- The face of the 16-year-old gang leader Red Jackson is dramatically
silhouetted as he peers out of a shattered window. At the time the photograph
was taken, both he and Parks were hiding out in an abandoned building after
being chased by a rival gang. Parks depicts an urban environment that is
both menacing and bleak. With images such as this, Parks brought a unique
visual drama as well as a sense of gritty authenticity to the genre of
photojournalism.
-
- 2008.232
-
-
- Untitled, from the series Gang Wars in Harlem, New York City,
1948, printed 1963
- gelatin silver print
-
- Using the car window as a frame, Parks takes the position of an outsider
looking at the Harlem neighborhood. Parks shows men and women walking on
a sidewalk, though few of the figures interact. Debris on the street suggests
the neglect that plagued the once vibrant neighborhood.
-
- Saint Louis Art Museum, Funds given by Mr. and Mrs. Daniel L. Schlafly
197:1989
-
-
- Emerging Man, 1952, printed 2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- Parks's photo of a figure tentatively rising out of a manhole was inspired
by Ralph Ellison's novel Invisible Man (1952). This famous book
concerns an African American who lives alone in an underground room and
is not acknowledged by society. Parks's photo-staged in collaboration with
Ellison-evokes the sense of marginalization and isolation. Yet, the title
Parks gave the image suggests the possibility of a better future for African
Americans.
-
- 2008.192
-
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- Drinking Fountains, Birmingham, Alabama, 1956, printed 2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- Framing the message of segregation-"colored only"-between
a mother and her daughter, Parks points to the daily injustices suffered
by southern blacks. He took this photo clandestinely from inside a car
because his life had been threatened while on this assignment. White supremacists
did not want the segregated conditions of Birmingham displayed on the pages
of Life magazine.
-
- 2008.187
-
-
- The da Silva Shack in the Favela of Catacumba, Rio de Janeiro,
1961, printed 2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- In 1961 while working for Life, Parks traveled to the slums
of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, an area known as the Favela. He documented the
plight of the da Silvas, a couple with six young children: Albia, Flavio,
Mario, Luzia, Zacarias, and Isabel (who is seen in the foreground of this
image). The photo-essay that Parks generated from his work in Brazil, "Freedom's
Fearful Foe: Poverty," became one of his best-known projects. The
article portrays poverty as a universal enemy that crosses racial and geographic
boundaries.
-
- 2008.241
-
-
- Flavio da Silva after Asthma Attack, the Favela, 1961, printed
2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- In "Freedom's Fearful Foe: Poverty" Parks focused particularly
on Flavio, the da Silva's malnourished and asthmatic son. The gritty directness
with which Parks photographed Flavio's gaunt body and filthy living conditions
drew sympathy from Life's readers, spurring them to donate more
than $30,000 for his care. Parks kept in touch with Flavio and his family,
writing a documentary film about them in 1964 and a biography entitled
Flavio in 1978.
-
- 2008.197
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- Malcolm X Addressing Black Muslim Rally, Chicago, 1963, printed
2003
- gelatin silver print
-
- Malcolm X, born Malcolm Little (1925-1965), was a Black Muslim minister
and outspoken member of the Nation of Islam who advocated black pride and
self-reliance. This image was part of the photographic essay on Malcolm
X and the Black Muslims that ran in