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Gordon Parks at the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, November 4, 2018 – February 18, 2019

The Gordon Parks show of photos from the 1940s closed on Monday at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC although I have archived nineteen of the photos here with a link to the National Gallery too. I first heard of Gordon Parks when he directed Shaft in the the early 1970s. I was young and believed what I saw, that Gordon Parks was a movie director of blaxploitation films. His career as a photo journalist spanned decades before Shaft and would span decades after, and was something I had yet to know. We are lucky to live and see things over again because it takes time to completely appreciate, although we can appreciate in an instant which is what a photograph is, a constant reminder of where we are no matter what time it is.

Marva Trotter Louis, Chicago, Illinois, 1941, gelatin silver print.

 

 

Charles White in front of his mural “Chaos of the American Negro,” 1941, gelatin silver print.

 

 

Langston Hughes, Chicago, December 1941, gelatin silver print.

 

 

Anacostia, D.C. Frederick Douglass housing project. Mother watching her children as she prepares the evening meal. June 1942, gelatin silver print.

 

 

Washington, D.C. Young boy standing in the doorway of his home on Seaton Road in the northwest section. His leg was cut off by a streetcar while he was playing in the street. June 1942, gelatin silver print, printed later.

 

 

Washington, D.C. Government charwoman, July 1942, gelatin silver print.

 

 

Washington, D.C. Grandchildren of Mrs. Ella Watson, a government charwoman (Children with Doll), July 1942, gelatin silver print.

 

 

The People’s Voice, Harlem, New York, August 1943, gelatin silver print.

 

 

Lt. George Knox. 332nd Fighter Group training at Selfridge Field, Michigan, October 1943, gelatin silver print mounted on board with caption.

 

 

Pittsburgh, Pa. The cooper’s plant at the Penola, Inc. grease plant, where large drums and containers are reconditioned. March 1944, gelatin silver print.

 

 

Captain Bill Lafond, 60-year-old fisherman at Gloucester, owns three boats. He is of Dutch French ancestry and has been going to sea since he was 13. November 1944, gelatin silver print.

 

 

Drug store “cowboys.” Black Diamond, Alberta, Canada. September 1945, gelatin silver print.

 

 

Untitled, Harlem, New York, 1947, gelatin silver print.

 

 

View of passenger aboard a Staten Island ferry, New York City. August 1948, gelatin silver print.

 

 

Off on My Own, 1948, gelatin silver print.

 

 

Trapped in abandoned building by a rival gang on street, Red Jackson ponders his next move, 1948, gelatin silver print.

 

 

Harlem Rooftops, 1948, gelatin silver print.

 

 

Paris Fashions, 1949, gelatin silver print.

 

Link to the National Gallery of Art:

http://www.nga.gov/index.html

 

Gordon Parks, Self-Portrait, 1941, gelatin silver print,

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