Flavio’s home by golden parks

Flavio Da Silva and Gordon Parks

Introduction

Although he was a black man in a society dominated by Whites , Gordon Parks did not allow his being black to affect his sense pursuit of success . This determination is partly because of the way that his Methodist mother encouraged him and let him pursue his goals in spite of being black

Through his camera , Parks managed to capture images of intolerance in the United States . His photos became eye-openers to a lot of people regarding the plight of Black American in the United

States . On top of that , he also captured poverty in his famous documentary in Rio de Janeiro about Flavio Da Silva , a boy who was suffering from tuberculosis . The boy , although sick and at times , could hardly breathe had to support his family who was living in the slums in the hills of the capital of Brazil

Flavio 's Home in Rio de Janeiro

By following Flavio , Parks was able to take picture of the scenes of the life that his family lived - the abject condition of poverty , the lack of healthy food to be eaten and the general helplessness that the family felt in the slums . Parks effectively used the tone of his photos as well as the colors and contrast of his subjects to highlight the elements of poverty in the home of Flavio . Through the photo-essay of Parks , the world took notice of the situation of Flavio . Thousands of dollars came in as a response to his photo-essay . As a result , Parks was able to bring the boy to the United States for treatment . Such was the power of Parks ' photos - they highlighted the situation of his subjects by highlighting the emotional aspect of his subjects in the photo . In doing so , he managed to elicit the effective emotional responses from those who see his photos all over the world . It would not be an exaggeration to say that those who view his photos are changed

Parks ' Grudge Against Poverty

One of the distinctive reasons why Parks is able to capture poverty well is the way he treats his subjects . For him , the subjects of his photos are not merely subjects . He turns them into friends and follows them through their lives and along the process he gets connected and involved with these subjects of his . In fact , he develops a love for his subject - a lasting kind of love (Online Focus , 1998

Parks , himself , experienced difficulties and bigotry in the American society . He grew up as a Black man and their family was very poor when he was young . It was only through the efforts , initiatives and determination of Parks that he managed to get out of poverty . Right after he was evicted from the house of his brother-in-law , he worked different kinds of blue collar jobs that enabled him to live . But when he got his first camera and he started taking photos

Conclusion

It is no wonder that Parks captured the different facets...