Gordon Parks

(American, 1912–2006)

Gordon Parks was a self-taught photographer, writer, composer, and filmmaker. Parks is remembered as the first African-American photographer who worked for Vogue and Life magazines, known for his documentary photojournalism of the 1940s through the 1970s. He captured iconic images of the civil rights movement, investigating important turning points in inner cities around the United States. Along with these charged moments, he also captured candid portraits of artists and musicians including Helen Frankenthaler. “I picked up a camera because it was my choice of weapons against what I hated most about the universe: racism, intolerance, poverty,” he once said. Born on November 30, 1912 in Fort Scott, KS, Parks grew up amidst the injustices of segregation and racist violence. He bought his first camera at the age of 25 at a Seattle pawnshop, and in 1940 moved to Chicago where he developed a portrait business. In 1948, his photographic essay on a Harlem gang leader earned Parks a job as a photographer for Life, where he continued to work until 1972. In addition to his photography, Parks also became a successful filmmaker, directing Shaft, one of the most successful movies of 1971. He also wrote the acclaimed book A Choice of Weapons (1966), a chronicle of his life journey as a photographer. Parks was awarded the American Society of Magazine Photographers’ Photographer of the Year in 1960, the Congress of Racial Equality Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000, as well as over 20 honorary doctorates. The Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. acquired his archive in 1995. He died on March 7, 2006 in New York, NY. Today, the artist’s works are held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

Gordon Parks News

Gallery Network

Spotlight: A New Exhibition Looks Back at Gordon Parks’s Seminal Photography

by Artnet Gallery Network
Spotlight: A New Exhibition Looks Back at Gordon Parks’s Seminal Photography
Art & Exhibitions

Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz Triumph as Art World 'Giants'

by Min Chen
Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz Triumph as Art World 'Giants'
Politics

'National Geographic' Turned to a Photo Historian to Help Reckon With Its Colonialist Past. Even He Was Unsettled by What He Found

by Ben Davis
'National Geographic' Turned to a Photo Historian to Help Reckon With Its Colonialist Past. Even He Was Unsettled by What He Found

Gordon Parks Artworks

Artworks for Sale &
Auction Results

Gordon Parks (306 results)
Mother and Children, Mobile, Alabama, 1956

Gordon Parks

Mother and Children, Mobile, Alabama, 1956

ADAMSON GALLERY | EDITIONS

Price on Request

Street Image of Boys, ca. 1969

Gordon Parks

Street Image of Boys, ca. 1969

HK Art Advisory + Projects

Price on Request

Hilton Caribe in Puerto Rico, 1949

Gordon Parks

Hilton Caribe in Puerto Rico, 1949

Feldschuh Gallery

Price on Request

Emerging Man, Harlem, New York, 1952

Gordon Parks

Emerging Man, Harlem, New York, 1952

HK Art Advisory + Projects

Price on Request

At Segregated Drinking Fountain, Mobile,..., 1956

Gordon Parks

At Segregated Drinking Fountain, Mobile,..., 1956

HK Art Advisory + Projects

Price on Request

American Gothic, Washington, DC, 1942

Gordon Parks

American Gothic, Washington, DC, 1942

HK Art Advisory + Projects

Price on Request

American Gothic, Washington, D.C, 1942

Gordon Parks

American Gothic, Washington, D.C, 1942

Sale Date: April 30, 2024

Auction Closed

Group of 5 photographs, 1942–1943

Gordon Parks

Group of 5 photographs, 1942–1943

Sale Date: April 10, 2024

Auction Closed

Flower Market, Paris, 1952

Gordon Parks

Flower Market, Paris, 1952

Sale Date: April 10, 2024

Auction Closed

Untitled, Chicago, Illinois, 1953

Gordon Parks

Untitled, Chicago, Illinois, 1953

Sale Date: April 10, 2024

Auction Closed

Nudes, 1999

Gordon Parks

Nudes, 1999

Sale Date: April 18, 2024

Auction Closed

Bessie And Little Richard (Fontenelle) The...

Gordon Parks

Bessie And Little Richard (Fontenelle) The...

Sale Date: April 18, 2024

Auction Closed

American Gothic, Washington, D.C. (Ellen Watson)

Gordon Parks

American Gothic, Washington, D.C. (Ellen Watson)

Sale Date: April 18, 2024

Auction Closed

Segregation Story, 1956

Gordon Parks

Segregation Story, 1956

Sale Date: April 4, 2024

Auction Closed

Dove, 1962, 1962

Gordon Parks

Dove, 1962, 1962

Sale Date: April 3, 2024

Auction Closed

Group of 6 Photographs, 1943

Gordon Parks

Group of 6 Photographs, 1943

Sale Date: March 13, 2024

Auction Closed

Group of 5 Farm Security Administration , 1942–1943

Gordon Parks

Group of 5 Farm Security Administration , 1942–1943

Sale Date: January 10, 2024

Auction Closed

James Galanos Fashion, Hollywood, California, 1961

Gordon Parks

James Galanos Fashion, Hollywood, California, 1961

Sale Date: December 11, 2023

Auction Closed

Music, That Lordly Power, 1993

Gordon Parks

Music, That Lordly Power, 1993

Sale Date: December 2, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled (Shady Grove, Alabama), 1956

Gordon Parks

Untitled (Shady Grove, Alabama), 1956

Sale Date: December 2, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1951

Gordon Parks

Untitled, 1951

Sale Date: December 1, 2023

Auction Closed

Shady Grove, Alabama, 1956

Gordon Parks

Shady Grove, Alabama, 1956

Sale Date: October 20, 2023

Auction Closed

Airline Terminal, Atlanta, Georgia, 1956

Gordon Parks

Airline Terminal, Atlanta, Georgia, 1956

Sale Date: October 11, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled, Nashville, Tennessee, 1956

Gordon Parks

Untitled, Nashville, Tennessee, 1956

Sale Date: October 11, 2023

Auction Closed

English (US)

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