Photography came of age in the last century and is now one of the most popular collecting categories. At The Appraisal Group, we frequently come across collections of 19th and 20th century works by photographers. Gordon Park is among the trailblazers of the last century. His sophisticated and worldly eye delivered insights onrace relations, poverty, civil rights, and urban life.  Mr. Parks was active from the early 1940s up until his death in 2006.

Gordon Parks’ works have been featured at Art Basel, and in the past year, at least twelve galleries and museums. He was celebrated by CBS. On October 2nd, 2015, the Gordon Parks Arts Hall at the University of Chicago Laboratory schools opened.

Born in 1912 in Kansas, he was a self-taught photographer. Among his first assignments was documenting the training of the training of the 332nd Fighter Pilot Group, otherwise known as the Tuskegee Airmen. A 1948 photo-essay on the life of a Harlem gang leader landed him a career as a photographer/writer at Life magazine. He chronicled racism and poverty, captured memorable images of celebrities and policicians. He photographed Baptist preachers and Benedictine monks alike. His work is on the fashion pages of popular magazines.

He created moving portraits Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., and Stokely Carmichael. Among is most famous images are Emerging Man (1952) and American Gothic (1942). Both have become iconic images that define the era of activism and humanitarianism for current generations. Those pictures also helped rally support for the nascent Civil Rights Movement.

Gordon Parks was honored with the National Medal of Arts in 1988 and received more than fifty honorary doctorate degrees. A true artist, he created notable compositions and became the first African American to write and direct a Hollywood feature film. It was based on his bestselling novel “The Learning Tree.” In his later years, Gordon Parks experimented with photographic abstract images.

The Gordon Parks Foundation awards scholarships to students whose artistic talent reflects the passion, vision and humanity. The Gordon Parks Foundation holds its 10th Anniversary Awards Dinner and Auction in New York City at Cipraini. For details, please visit For more on Gordon Parks, please visit The Gordon Parks Foundation.

Editor’s Note: Today’s featured image is a self-portrait by Gordon Parks. Courtesy of The Gordon Parks Foundation website.