© The Gordon Parks Foundation
Currently not on view
Neighbors, Harlem, New York,
1952
Gordon Parks, 1912–2006; born Fort Scott, KS; died New York, NY; active New York, NY
2017-185
After becoming Life magazine’s first black staff photographer in 1947, Parks produced a series of groundbreaking photoessays, including, in August 1952, “A Man Becomes Invisible,” which promoted Ralph Ellison’s recent novel Invisible Man. The primary setting for the author’s stark account of racism is Harlem, which for him represented “the scene and symbol of the Negro’s perpetual alienation in the land of his birth.” For his project, Parks combined staged scenes from the book with street photography of Harlem residents, including this image of four women backgrounded by local storefronts. Although not published as part of the three-page Life story, Neighbors, Harlem, New York communicates a penetrating psychological character that was missing in mainstream representations of African Americans at the time.
Information
Title
Neighbors, Harlem, New York
Dates
1952
Maker
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image: 24.9 × 30.5 cm (9 13/16 × 12 in.)
sheet: 27.7 × 35.6 cm (10 7/8 × 14 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, Hugh Leander Adams, Mary Trumbull Adams, and Hugh Trumbull Adams Princeton Art Fund
Object Number
2017-185
Place Made
North America, United States, New York, Manhattan, New York, Harlem
Marks/Labels/Seals
Square stamp on verso: GORDON PARKS / This is a certified Gordon Parks reference print / which was printed during his lifetime and / authorized by the Gordon Parks Foundation. / [Signed] / Peter W. Kunhardt, Jr / Director, Gordon Parks Foundation / © All rights reserved
Culture
Techniques
Subject
The artist; Gordon Parks Foundation, Pleasantville, New York, NY; purchased by the Princeton University Art Museum, 2017.
