Gordon Parks (born 1912) is an African American photographer, musician, poet, novelist, journalist, activist, and film director. He has been an important and creative force in all of these fields. He began his public career as a freelance fashion and personality photographer in Chicago, but his first substantial work came as a documentary photographer with the Farm Security Administration. He has also performed as a jazz pianist. He directed a number of movies during the "Blaxploitation" phase of American cinema, though the films cannot be classified that way. He was a notable campaigner for civil rights in the US. He has also been the subject of film and print profiles (notably "Half Past Autumn" (2000)).

Parks' works include:

Books:

• A Choice of Weapons (1964) (autobiographical)
• To Smile in Autumn (autobiographical)
• Voices in the Mirror (autobiographical)
• The Learning Tree (autobiographical)

Published compilations of his poetry and photography:

• Gordon Parks: A Poet and His Camera
• Gordon Parks: Whispers of Intimate Things
• Gordon Parks: In Love, Moments Without Proper Names
• Arias of Silence
• Glimpses Toward Infinity

Films:

• Flavio, Diary of a Harlem Family (1964)
• The World of Piri Thomas (1968)
• The Learning Tree (1969)
• Shaft (1971)
• Shaft's Big Score (1972)
• The Super Cops (1974)
• Leadbelly (1976)
• Solomon Northup's Odyssey (1984)

Music:

• Moments Without Proper Names (1987)
• Martin (1989) (ballet about Martin Luther King)

Documentaries about or including Parks:

• Soul in Cinema: Filming Shaft on Location (1971)
• Passion and Memory (1986)
• Malcolm X: Make it Plain (1994)
• All Power to the People (1996)
• Half Past Autumn: The Life and Works of Gordon Parks (2000)
• Baadasssss Cinema (2002)
• Soul Man: Isaac Hayes (2003)

An exhibition of his photography was held at the Norton Museum of Art in 1999. A biography detailing his life as photographer is related here: http://www.norton.org/Searchfrm.asp

Some of his photography can be viewed here: http://www.pdngallery.com/legends/parks/mainframeset.shtml

A photography prize has been awarded in his name for the last 16 years: http://www.ftscott.cc.ks.us/wp/special_gpphotography.asp

Further biographical information can be found here at the Thomson/Gale website: http://www.galegroup.com/free_resources/bhm/bio/parks_g.htm