To celebrate Black History Month, today you will be writing about this image made by artist and photojournalist Gordon Parks. This image is from a series Parks completed for Life Magazine. Life sent Parks to Alabama in 1956 to document 3 black families during one of the most turbulent times in American history. The project was meant to show how ordinary black families truly lived in the Deep South during 1956, and the images would serve to counter the misinformation spread that a racially segregated society was good for everyone. From the Gordon Parks Foundation: "Gordon Parks was one of the seminal figures of twentieth century photography. A humanitarian with a deep commitment to social justice, he left behind a body of work that documents many of the most important aspects of American culture from the early 1940s up until his death in 2006, with a focus on race relations, poverty, civil rights, and urban life. In addition, Parks was also a celebrated composer, author, and filmmaker who interacted with many of the most prominent people of his era - from politicians and artists to celebrities and athletes." Complete in class. FIVE paragraphs minimum; five sentences per paragraph.
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Hannah Lashway
2/28/2017 09:56:35 am
The image shown is of 4 children in a cabin style house. There are three boys and one girl. The two younger boys are sitting with the girl on the bed inside the house. The older boy sits outside with a rifle in his lap. There is no door which allows you to see inside the house. You cannot directly see any of the children's faces as they are all looking downward. 2/28/2017 09:57:10 am
This image is of three boys sitting on a bed with a lady too. There seems to be a older boy cleaning a rifle. The colors are very bland to show the amount of money they have. It is midday so the lighting is very light due to a lot of windows being open. There is a shotgun,two beds, three boys and one girl.
Emmet Owen
2/28/2017 09:58:13 am
This photo is of four black people inside a wooden house. The person outside is holding a gun for protection. He seems young and he probably does not have a good education. The mother or sister is in the back on the bed teaching a child how to read. The other boy is looking at the two people on the bed and simply observing them. 2/28/2017 10:01:49 am
This photograph depicts an African-American family in 1956 when racial segregation was still prominent in the United States. The photograph uses natural lighting and the colors are the standard colors within the room. Because of the natural lighting, there is a mix of dark shadows and light. The objects included in this image are the objects within the family’s house, and the faces are the solemn faces of each member photographed. There are two beds, a window, some large white structure (possibly an icebox,) and the book that is being read by the children. The most prominent object in this image is the gun being held by the most visible subject.
Eric Hammond
2/28/2017 10:02:11 am
This image is of 4 people. One of the people is a female. The female is lying on a bed with a younger boy. There is another boy sitting on another bed. The younger boys are probably the woman's sons.
Kristina Samuel
2/28/2017 10:06:48 am
The photograph above portrays an African American family. The main focus of the photograph is a young man balancing on a chair. He has a rifle in his lap and is gazing at it. The expression on his face is one of defeat or melancholy. Through the doorway, we can see two younger boys on the bed with a women, presumingly being their mother. The house itself is small and simple. 2/28/2017 10:09:26 am
This image is of a family consisting of a mother and her three sons in their house. The eldest son, who is in the foreground of the image, is sitting back in a chair handling a gun. He is not wearing a shirt but is wearing worn jeans. In the background, there is a mother with her two youngest sons, sitting on the bed reading a book. The texture of the bed looks as if it is soft, the bed also has a pink, velvaty look to it.
Bailey Dietzmann
2/28/2017 10:10:11 am
This is a photograph of a man and three children. The man closest to the camera is carrying a gun while leaning back on a wooden chair. The children in the background are sitting on a bed. Two of the three children are hovering over the book, while the other child is observing his two siblings. The colors are mainly red and white to describe the conditions (simplicity) that this family is living under. The lighting is natural lighting due to the sunlight beaming in through the window.
Poni Bryan
2/28/2017 10:14:50 am
The photo above by Gordon Parks is of a young man. There are three young children, two boys and one girl, sitting on the beds behind him. The young guy looks concentrated on the gun that he has in his lap and he seems to be thinking about something. The room he is in is well lit with natural lighting and he's leaning back in a chair. The house he is in looks old and the colors in the photo are soft and light.
Rylin McArthur
2/28/2017 10:15:21 am
The image is of African-American girls and boys sitting in a room. Two kids on the bed are reading a book while another boy is on a second bed hovering over the book as well. The boy sitting on the chair is grasping a gun. The children look like they are a family, considering the room shown is most likely in a small house they all share. The colors being used are faded and rustic such as the rose pink and the dull yellow. The lighting in the image is natural light coming through the window near the bed and the open door/window in front of the boy in the chair.
Isabela Ruiz
2/28/2017 10:15:33 am
This image is of a three boys sitting in a room with on female lady that seems to be their mother helping one of the kids. The mother seems to be helping the child with homework on the bed. The colors in this image are all neutral colors. The lighting is not over or under exposed. There is four black people. One bed, one wooden chair and one window in the background. Everyone in this image are all relaxing. 2/28/2017 10:20:09 am
This image shows siblings in their house. One of the siblings, looking a lot older than the others is holding a gun in front of what looks to be a door. He is also starring down at the gun and looks slightly worried or tense. The other children in this photograph are in the room behind the oldest boy and are sitting on a bed with a pink blanket covering it. These children are looking less worried and more playful than their older brother.
Montserrat Martinez Buganza
2/28/2017 10:25:59 am
The image seems to be inside a cabin of sorts, maybe a smaller house. The structure has decrepit wooden floors and maintained wooden walls. Even if the use of warm and cool colors is used, the saturation of those lacks intensity. It makes the picture look somewhat dull and uninteresting. However, the picture's quality immediately increases when you begin to notice the African-American family inside the house. Specially because who I assume is the father, is holding a gun while the woman plays with the kids.
Sebastian Sotomayor
2/28/2017 10:37:01 am
The image shows black family inside a house. In the foreground, there is a shirtless, barefoot young man leaning back in a wooden chair in what appears to be the house's porch. He has a rifle resting in his lap, and he is examining it really closely. In the background, inside the house, there is a young boy sitting in his bed, and then another young boy in another bed examining a book with what seems to be his mother. It uses dull, worn out colors, which creates a kind of dusty and "torn" environment. The picture is completely lit by natural light, coming in from the side of the porch and through the house's windows. 2/28/2017 10:34:32 pm
This photograph of Gordon Parks (1912-2006) is of him sitting on a chair in an old looking house. He is wearing baggy looking jeans with no shirt, has no shoes and is sitting on a chair leaning back on it while concentrating his eyes on a rifle. In the back, there is a bed with pink covers and three more children sitting on the bed. The boy on the right is sitting on the bed, wearing overalls and staring at the two children in the back. The two children in the back are wearing white, pink and blue. They seem to be concentrating on homework, or writing something important down. The girl also may be helping the young child next to her with his homework.
TAMYKA MENA
3/1/2017 08:15:38 am
This image depicts a black family in a house. The man sitting in the chair, who I assume is the father, is holding a shotgun. The woman in the background, who I assume is the mother, is reading to two little boys. The image uses warm-toned colors and natural lighting. The father seems to be leaning on a kitchen counter. 3/1/2017 09:36:44 pm
The image is about a black man who is protecting his family with a shotgun in 1956. The lighting of the image has a faded look to it because the image was taken about 61 years ago. What is happening in the image is that a black man is protecting his family with a shotgun on his porch. He is likely protecting his family from racial discriminators. Comments are closed.
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