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| Ingrid Bergman at Stromboli, Italy, 1949, by Gordon Parks |
I had a great sense of curiosity
and a great sense of
just wanting to achieve,
I just forgot I was black
and
walked in and asked for a job
and tried to be prepared for what I was asking
for.
Gordon Parks
He developed a large following as a
photographer for Life for more than 20 years, and by the time he was 50, he
ranked among the most influential image makers of the postwar years. In the
1960s he began to write memoirs, novels, poems and screenplays, which led him
to directing films. In addition to The Learning Tree, he directed
the popular action films Shaft and Shaft's Big Score! In 1970 he helped found Essence magazine, and was its editorial director from
1970 to 1973.
At
Life Mr. Parks also used his camera for less politicized, more conventional
ends, photographing the socialite Gloria Vanderbilt, who became his friend; a
fashionable Parisian in a veiled hat puffing hard on her cigarette, and Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini at the beginning of their notorious
love affair.
On his own time, he photographed
female nudes in a style of Baroque painting, experimented with
double-exposed color film, and recorded pastoral scenes evoking the
pictorial style of early twentieth century art photography.
Source: The New York Times
We are the lucky beneficiaries of having the Gordon Parks in our world.
ReplyDeleteGordon Parks was a wonderfully gifted photographer.
ReplyDeleteClassic Willow Manor post, Tess. I must investigate further.
ReplyDeleteIsn't 'Stromboli' the most inviting name. Strom-bo-li! I can just picture myself in a shaded bar in San Vincenzo, sipping a cool beer and watching the fishing boats go by. In Strom-bo-li!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the update on Gordon Parks, I went to Stromboli once...lots of good memories:)
ReplyDeleteCro, when I hear Stromboli, after the hunger pangs subside, I think of the bad guy in Pinocchio!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great posting I have read. I like your article.
ReplyDeletethanks for the details on Gordon Parks. Wonderful.
ReplyDeleteDamn! He captures the entire film in that one shot of Ingrid. Wow.
ReplyDeletePhil, you're so right...it's an amazing capture...the whole story is told in one shot...
ReplyDeleteI had the privilege of working with Gordon Parks three times before he died. His photographs for Life are the reason I went into journalism in the first place. I first met him when I was a young reporter at Life magazine in the mid 80s, and I can honestly say, it was the only time I've felt awestruck at meeting a particular person. He was an amazing human being, very kind and forthcoming when I interviewed him, and later, when he shot a magazine cover of a story I wrote on a girl in a gang. thank you for this!
ReplyDeleteExcellent Mrs. TK. thank you for this bit of jewelled wisdom.
ReplyDelete