gordon parks: United States of America
Cinema fans recognize Gordon Parks as a filmmaker (the first African-American to write, produce, direct, and score a film), but he was a photography legend. Parks was the first African-American hired at Life magazine where his photographic essays won him international attention. “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,” The Gordon Parks Foundation writes (sources and further information links at the bottom of the page).
