Gordon Parks: Diary of a Harlem Family, 1967/1968 Published by Steidl.
Edited with text by Peter W. Kunhardt Jr., Michal Raz-Russo. Text by Michael Boyce Gillespie, Thelma Golden, Cord Jefferson, Leigh Raiford. The expanded study of one of Parks’ most enduring series—an unflinching view of poverty, racism, wealth inequality and exploitation all too familiar to 21st-century citizens Published with The Gordon Parks Foundation.
On March 8, 1968, Life published “A Harlem Family” by Gordon Parks, a searing portrait of poverty in the United States, told through the story of a single family living in Harlem: the Fontenelles. Since its publication in book form in 2012, additional images belonging to the series have been discovered, and research conducted on the accompanying film, Diary of a Harlem Family (1968). This revised and expanded volume tells the story of Parks’ project through this updated lens, accompanied by previously unpublished texts and ephemera: correspondence between Parks and the Fontenelles, letters from Life readers showing an outpouring of support for the family, and the transcript of a conversation between Parks and Michael Torosian about the making of the story. Essays by Studio Museum director and chief curator Thelma Golden, author Cord Jefferson and scholars Leigh Raiford and Michael Boyce Gillespie offer enlightening commentary on this seminal body of work.
Gordon Parks (1912–2006) was an acclaimed American photographer and film director, and a prominent figure in US documentary photojournalism, particularly in issues of civil rights and poverty. His many photographic series include his iconic photos of poor Americans during the 1940s (taken for the Farm Security Administration Program) and his photographic essays for Life. He directed films including Shaft and the semiautobiographical The Learning Tree.
|
