Gordon Parks was an influential American photographer, musician, writer and film director. He was born in 1912 in Kansas and lived until 2006. Parks was a pioneering African American photographer whose early work with the Farm Security Administration chronicled the black experience during the Depression. Later in his career, he expanded into film and literature, directing the popular 1971 blaxploitation film Shaft. Over his long career, Parks received numerous awards and honors for his photography, writings, films and compositions. He made significant contributions across multiple artistic disciplines.

1. Gordon Parks
By: Suzette Brown
Dr. John Najarian
CS 215
Activity # 10

2. Time Line
• Born: November 30,1912 in Fort
Scott, Kansas to Sarah Ross and
Jackson Parks
• Died: March 7, 2006 in New York at
the age of 93
• Married and divorced three times and
had four children

4. Renaissance Man…
• Photography was his main interest
• His early work led to a fellowship with
the Farm Security Administration,
chronically the black experience during
The Depression.
• In the 1950’s and 60’s his interests
expanded to include television
documentaries and literature.
• His 1971 film Shaft spawned a series of
“blaxploitation” movies, which are still
enjoyed today.

5. Accomplishments
Awards
• Flash Photography (1947) (technical)
• Camera Portraits: Techniques and
Principles of Documentary Portraiture
(1948) (documentary)
• The Learning Tree (1964) (semi-
autobiographical)
• A Choice of Weapons (1967)
(autobiographical)
• Born Black (1970) (compilation of
essays and photographs)
• To Smile in Autumn (1979)
(autobiographical)
– New edition with foreword by
Alexs D. Pate. Minneapolis:
University of Minnesota Press,
2009.
• Voices in the Mirror (1990)
(autobiographical)
• The Sun Stalker (2003) (biography on
J.M.W. Turner)
• A Hungry Heart (Nov. 1, 2005)
(autobiographical)
Poetry and Photography
• Gordon Parks: Elementary school
• Gordon Parks: A Poet and His
Camera
• Gordon Parks: Whispers of Intimate
Things
• Gordon Parks: In Love
• Gordon Parks: Moments Without
Proper Names (1975)
• Arias of Silence
• Glimpses Toward Infinity
• A Star for Noon - An Homage to
Women in Images Poetry and Music
(2000)
• Eyes With Winged Thoughts

6. Accomplishments (cont.)
Films
• Flavio (1964)
• Diary of a Harlem Family
(1968)
• The World of Piri Thomas
(1968)
• The Learning Tree (1969)
• Shaft (1971)
• Shaft's Big Score (1972),
director and composer
• The Super Cops (1974)
• Leadbelly (1976)
• Solomon Northup's Odyssey
(1984)
• Martin (1989
Music
• Moments Without Proper
Names (1987)
• Martin (1989) (ballet about
Martin Luther King)
• Shaft's Big Score (1972)