EYE CANDY
After Gordon Parks: Mickalene Thomas, Carrie Mae Weems and More Celebrate 50 Years of Black Photographers
Fifty years ago, the photographer Gordon Parks took to the streets of Harlem with his camera — and at times, Ralph Ellison — and changed the game for black photographers. He left a legacy that paved the way for Mickalene Thomas, Carrie Mae Weems, and LaToya Ruby Frazier today, all of whose photographs show up alongside his in “Fifty Years After,” an homage to both Parks and the Civil Rights Movement at James Barron Art in Kent, Connecticut until October. It’s a striking portrait of being black in America over the last half-century.
1Gordon Parks, “At Segregated Drinking Fountain, Mobile, Alabama,” 1956.
2Mickalene Thomas, “Madame Mama Bush,” 2012.
3Gordon Parks, “American Gothic, Washington, D.C.,” 1942.
4Carrie Mae Weems, “Untitled (Eating lobster)” from the Kitchen Table Series, 2003.
5Gordon Parks, “Airline Terminal, Atlanta, Georgia,” 1956.
6Gordon Parks, “Invisible Man Retreat, Harlem, New York,” 1952.
7Carrie Mae Weems, “Lewitt’s Wall,” 2006 – present.
8LaToya Ruby Frazier, “Campaign for Braddock Hospital (Save Our Community Hospital)” series, 2011.
9Gordon Parks, “Malcolm X at Rally, Chicago, Illinois,” 1963.
10Carrie Mae Weems, “Untitled (Woman and phone)” from the Kitchen Table Series, 2003.
11Gordon Parks, “The Invisible Man, Harlem, New York,” 1952.
12Mickalene Thomas, “Remember Me,” 2006.
13Gordon Parks, “Untitled, Harlem, New York,” 1963.
14Gordon Parks, “Untitled, Miami, Florida,” 1966.
15LaToya Ruby Frazier, “Grandma Ruby and UPMC” from the Campaign for Braddock Hospital (Save Our Community Hospital) series, 2011.
16Carrie Mae Weems, “Untitled (Woman and daughter with makeup)” from the Kitchen Table Series, 2003.
17LaToya Ruby Frazier, “Jenny Holzer’s Truism” from the Campaign for Braddock Hospital (Save Our Community Hospital) series, 2011.
