News Feature - Award-winning Photographer/Director Gordon Parks Dies at 93

Gordon Parks, an award-winning photographer for Life Magazine, and director of such Hollywood films as Shaft and The Learning Tree, has died after a lengthy battle with prostate cancer. The 93 year old Parks passed away last night in his New York home, according to his nephew, Charles.

Gordon Parks' legacy started off after dropping out of high school, and in the late 1930s, discovered photography. Parks, the youngest of 15 children, spent the Second World War as a government photographer ,working for the Office of War Information, then moved on to a brief stint as a fashion photographer for Vogue magazine. Then, in 1948, he began his 20-year stay with Life Magazine, becoming the iconic journal's first black photographer.

During his tenure, he photographed society's elites and society's poor, delivering many outstanding photo essays on African American life. One of his greatest accomplishments during his stay was the photographic of a young Brazilian boy, Flavio de Silva, who, through the notoriety, received enough money to be flown to Denver to be treated for his illness, and to have a new home in Rio de Janeiro built for his family.

Parks also illuminated strong black leaders such as Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X in captivating portraits. Perhaps his most well-known work was for his photo entitled "American Gothic". According to the New York Times, "it shows a black cleaning woman named Ella Watson standing stiffly in front of an American flag, a mop in one hand and a broom in the other. Mr. Parks wanted the picture to speak to the existence of racial bigotry and inequality in the nation's capital."

Parks was also renowned for his photography of Parisian fashion, celebrities and celebrity life, and influential politicians. Among the targets of his lens was socialite Gloria Vanderbilt, whom he later befriended. The photograph pictured Vanderbilt in a veiled hat, drawing on a cigarette. Other famed targets include Barbra Streisand, Aaron Copland and Samuel Barber.

In 1969, Parks completed work on The Learning Tree after two previous attempts at directing. As well as directing this movie, he also wrote it, produced it and composed the music for it. As was reported by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Parks once said, "I was just born with a need to explore every tool shop of my mind, and with long searching and hard work. I became devoted to my restlessness."His work on this film was later recognized by the US Library of Congress as one of the first 25 movies to be deemed culturally and historically significant, and was subsequently preserved in the US National Film Registry. His follow up to The Learning Tree was the widely popular film Shaft. These two movies came to define the genre of "blaxploitation" films.

Parks' other accolades include receiving a National Medal of Arts award from then-President Ronald Reagan, receiving over 40 honorary doctorates from universities and colleges across the United States and England, publishing novels, poetry, autobiographies/memoirs and compose music.

Additional Sources: Imdb.com, New York Times, CBC