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final project proposal

Born in 1912 in Fort Scott, Kansas, Gordon Parks was a photographer, filmmaker, writer and musician. More than an artist, Parks was a humanitarian who devoted his life to fight social justice, and to make this world better with his art and honesty. Born into poverty, Parks decided that his weapon against the injustice black people in the US were going through at the time was a camera, and he believed he could be one among the change.

Segregation in the South, 1956 comprises a series of photographs which depicts the repressive oppression of Jim Crow laws on black families at the time. My choice is the Department Store in Mobile, Alabama, which clearly states how divided the country was. Shown in the picture, there is a mother and her daughter standing in front of a store with a big sign that clearly states that “colored” people were supposed to enter the store from another entry, for the “white” to avoid being in contact with them.

Picture source:

Gordon Parks. Department Store, Mobile, Alabama. 1956, printed later. Artstor, library-artstor-org.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/asset/ACORCORANIG_10313505300

Gordon Parks: Segregation Story in Mobile, 1956 - Museum Exhibitions - the Gordon Parks Foundation. www.gordonparksfoundation.org/exhibitions/museum-exhibitions/gordon-parks-segregation-story-in-mobile-1956.

Bunyan, Marcus. “Gordon Parks Department Store – Art Blart.”  Art Blart, artblart.com/tag/gordon-parks-department-store.

Art, Sheldon Museum Of. “Gordon Parks: Segregation Story | Sheldon Museum of Art.”  Sheldon Museum of Art, sheldonartmuseum.org/exhibitions/gordon-parks-segregation-story.

Biography - the Gordon Parks Foundation. www.gordonparksfoundation.org/gordon-parks/biography.