Gordon Parks, Marisa Fuentes

     This photo depicts a contessa in which Parks was assigned to photograph in 1950. This woman is a model for LIFE magazine and said to be one of Parks' favorite models who had "a real flare about the way she wore clothes". LIFE magazine had no fashion photographers during his gang series, so the magazine sent him to Paris to photograph the French collections. Different from other photos in Gordon's portfolio, this picture shows beauty, elegance, and glamour, versus poverty, struggle, or depression. One can easily conclude that a life like this is beautiful, on the outside at least.

     Gordon Parks captured this photo with the light focusing more on her upper body than her lower body. Her feet are almost unable to be seen, the shadow behind her is extremely dark, and her face and bust seem to have the most light shown. As a viewer, what I conclude from such lighting is the face of a gorgeous woman who is no doubt wealthy, but perhaps bored or unhappy with her life. With all that wealth and designer clothes, how could one be as unhappy as she looks? And by the light shining on her upper body, we know that these are designer clothes because of the gaudy necklace, glittery dress, and what seems to be a fur wrap in her hand. But are those things really important in life? Sure, this contessa may have "flare" in wearing these clothes, she does it all the time. I think that that is what her face is showing. I think it is showing her annoyance with her job, her want for an adventure. 

     This shot is taken at a slight angle upward. I believe that Parks took it from a lower view to capture her looking downwards. People who are happy don't look towards the ground, they look ahead. People who are happy also smile, as do people with elegance and beauty. I believe that this model wears these clothes because she is told to and because she's told she looks good. What she really wants though, is a life where she can be herself and have someone to physically lean on besides an inanimate object like the chair. 

Gordon Parks, Devin Martin

This is a photo taken by Gordon parks in June 1942 of a child playing on her front porch. This particular photo was snapped in Washington D.C. about midway through his career. It speaks volumes about the average family life of the time. It has an underlying message that even in places such as the capitol of the United States, hardship can still take place.

1942 was a hard year like many others in the 30's and 40's. The Great Depression was subsiding but the war was in full motion. Many fathers and brothers were being sent away to fight for the country they loved. the war required many men to be away from their families and for the women to start working, which was unusual for the time as the majority of men still played the role as the breadwinners. This left many families in hard times as many women did not earn as much as the men because they had no prior work experience. This left them with little food to put on the table and even less time to actually spend raising their families.

The photo appears to almost have some sort of reminiscent aura about it. One can almost assume that the child is waiting for something. Possibly their mother or father to come home. The partial absence of maternal and paternal figures left many children to their own devices for large portions of their day. This led many children to rely on themselves and their siblings to retrieve what they needed while their parents were gone.

All in all the war was a tough time for families everywhere in America as many dilemma's left them separated and isolated for large periods of time. It was an overall travesty and something we all must work on never letting happen again.

The New American Dream

This is the first photograph Parks ever took of Watson. Parks dramatically posed her in front of a large American flag and used elaborate lighting and flashes to create layers of shadow over her face. Watson is staring straight into the camera and holds a broom in her right hand and her mop in the background. Watsons pose and expression aren’t aggressive but they aren’t weak either. Despite her hardship she is still standing and working, not passionately or excitement but she is still standing.

I think the way Watson is posed in front of the American flag is very interesting and I found it to be very thought provoking. The flag should be a symbol of hope and the promise of the American dream. The work of generations that came before us, the work that built this country, should inspire and motivate workers, but Watson’s face is dull and lifeless. She is uninspired but she has no choice but to get up every morning and continue her work because as bad as her low paying job cleaning offices may have been, the alternative of no work would have provided a far worse outcome for herself and her two grandchildren. Perhaps Parks was even trying to say that as compared to others who could not find any work at all, Watson was living the American dream.

Something that was mentioned in the photographic essay that I had never really considered before was the role of racism and bigotry in the Great Depression. When I think of the Great Depression images of inner city whites in huge northern cities like New York and Chicago flood my mind.  But as I read the essay I learned that as hard as it was for a white person to find work it was even harder for a person of color to find work. -Emma Casey

Gordon Parks, Samantha Price

                             

This photograph displays two children, under the age of five, at a childcare center in Connecticut. The two children in this image are washing up for lunch in the restroom. I interpret the two children in this photograph to be sisters because of the bond I feel between them. When looking at this image, I feel a lot of tenderness, care, and love toward one another by the way they are carrying themselves so closely together. The way the older child is leaning over the younger one to wipe her face off leads me to believe that she takes care of her quite often. Considering that this childcare center is for children with mothers who are involved in the war industry, I would say that the older child in this photograph takes care of the younger one most of the time while their mother is away.

The lighting Parks used in this photograph is mostly shining onto the little girls in this photo to make them the main focal point. There is also a significant amount of light on to the brick wall in the back of the image, which also brings out the old concrete floor and pipes in the restroom. I feel that by putting bright light on these objects in the image, Gordon may be showing that this is a very poor childcare center concentrated in some type of warehouse or basement.

Gordon shot the image looking down on the two children. The angle that the photo was shot at emphasizes how young these children really are. Parks may be implying that these children are too young to be taking care of themselves and one another. I also feel like Gordon is trying to show the audience the result of parents being away from their children most of the time trying to support their family; the children are forced to take care of themselves instead of being taken care of by their parents.

Gordon Parks, Nicholas Tefft

Two African American men are captured in this photo examining the wounds of a recently murdered gang member in a coffin. The astonished look caught on both of their faces seems to scream a very important message for gang members to hear; being a gangster is real. The money and life style that comes along with the roll of a gangster are very tempting, and easy to fall into, especially for African Americans in a racist community. Often times the negative aspects of this title, one of them being death, were over looked and lead to consequences similar to the man in the coffins fate. Through this picture Gordon Parks was attempting to teach young people the negative aspects of this lifestyle, before they even became a part of it.

                Gordon used the lighting in this photograph in a very unique way. Everything that was unimportant had little to no lighting focused on it, and more important aspects of the photo had vibrant white lighting surrounding it. The lifeless facial expression made by Maurice Gaines, the dead gang member, is surrounded by the most light in the picture. The light helps to emphasize how lifeless the man actually is, how real the consequences of being a gangster can be, and could be interpreted as an important guide for the other two men. This guide explains to the other men that they are equal to Maurice, and that their fate could be the same if they continue down the same path.  The contrast between the Maurice’s face and the bright white coffin make the specific location where they meet the focal point of the picture.

                Both of the men are looking downward, and the photograph was taken in a similar manner. It makes the audience feel as if they are a third man looking at the body, while examining others reaction to what is before their eyes. This vantage point makes a very personal statement to the audience and I believe that is why he chose this angle and view.

                Parks seemed to have taken this picture in an attempt to take the temptation people had to fall into this lifestyle away from them by showing them the real consequences in a personal manner.