Gordon parks net worth

Biography of Gordon Parks

Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks was an American photographer, musician, poet, writer, journalist, director, and activist who fought for the civil rights of African Americans in the United States. Born on November 30, 1912, in Fort Scott, Kansas, Parks knew firsthand the hardships of poverty as the youngest of fifteen children in his family. His mother, Sara Ross Parks, always told him that there was no point in complaining about being black if he couldn't achieve something. If a white person could do it, then he could too.

At the age of sixteen, Parks moved to Minnesota to live with his sister, but after a disagreement with his sister's husband, he was forced to make a living as a piano player in a brothel, a waiter's assistant, and a basketball player. It wasn't until he was twenty-five years old that he picked up a camera for the first time, but his passion for photography didn't truly ignite until he saw photographs of migrant workers in a magazine. Inspired by what he saw, Parks bought his first camera, a used one for $12.50.

After taking some successful photographs, Parks landed a job at a women's fashion store, and his photographs caught the attention of Marva Louis, the wife of boxing champion Joe Louis. Marva convinced the young photographer to move to Chicago, where he began taking portraits of upper-class women to make a living, as well as documenting the everyday life in black ghettos. In 1941, an exhibition of these photographs led to Parks collaborating with the United States Office of War Information.

As an apprentice to renowned photographer Roy Stryker, Parks captured one of his most famous photographs titled "American Gothic." The photograph depicted Ella Watson, a black janitor, standing with an American flag in one hand and a broom in the background. Parks was inspired to create this photograph after experiencing racism in Washington, where he was denied entry to restaurants and stores because he was black. He went on to create a series of photographs documenting Ella Watson and her family's daily life.

In 1942, when the Office of War Information was disbanded, Parks worked for the Office of War Information, but he faced prejudice and resigned in 1944. He lived in Harlem and took fashion photographs for Vogue, later working with Stryker again in New Jersey on a photographic project for Standard Oil, capturing the lives of workers and their families in small industrial towns. Despite the racism that persisted after the war, the chief editor of Vogue hired Parks to shoot a collection of evening dresses, and he continued to work with him in the following years.

Parks released two photography books in 1947 and 1948 titled "Flash Photography" and "Photographic Portrait: Techniques and Principles of Documentary Portraiture," respectively. In 1948, after covering a story about a Harlem youth gang leader, Parks became a photographer and reporter for Life magazine. Over the course of twenty years, Parks covered a wide range of topics, including fashion, sports, Broadway shows, poverty, and racial segregation. He photographed portraits of sports and Hollywood stars, as well as public and political figures such as Barbara Streisand, Muhammad Ali, Stokely Carmichael, and Malcolm X.

In 1961, his photo essay about a Brazilian boy named Flavio da Silva suffering from pneumonia and malnutrition sparked a wave of donations that saved the child's life and enabled his family to move to a new home. In the 1950s, Parks worked as a consultant in Hollywood and directed a series of documentary films about life in black ghettos for the National Educational Television. In the 1960s, he turned to literature and wrote memoirs, published a book called "The Learning Tree," and several poetry collections illustrated with his photographs.

In 1969, Parks became the first African American director in Hollywood, directing the screen adaptation of "The Learning Tree," for which he also wrote the screenplay and composed the music. He made only a few films but became the founder of a genre known as "blaxploitation cinema," targeting African American audiences. His most famous film was the detective action movie "Shaft" in 1971, which was later remade in 2000, starring Samuel L. Jackson.

Gordon Parks was married three times and divorced three times. His first marriage to Sally Alvis lasted from 1933 to 1961. He then married Elizabeth Campbell in 1962, divorced in 1973, and immediately married editor Genevieve Young, divorcing six years later in 1979. For many years, he maintained a close relationship with socialite and heiress Gloria Vanderbilt, which ended only with his death. Parks had three children - David, Leslie, and Toni Parks Parsons. His eldest son, Gordon Jr., died in a plane crash in 1979.

Living in a fashionable neighborhood in New York City, Parks passed away on March 7, 2006, at the age of 93 from cancer. In 2000, a documentary film titled "Half Past Autumn: The Life and Works of Gordon Parks" was released, featuring interviews with close friends, colleagues, and the Brazilian boy Flavio da Silva, whose life Parks had saved.