Gordon Parks’ photography has a lot of composition and shadows. The beginning pictures he took, on the website are of the negro community. There’s one in particular that stood out more than most. Chain Gang, Alabama 1956. The image shows a group of people working on a train track with a black and white striped shirt and there’s a ‘cop’ on a horse watching them. I like this image because the lines of the train are in the middle and the workers are around the track. I don’t understand why they are working on the track, but they are the main subject of the picture, and they draw you in with the stripes. Gordon Parks has an eye for simplicity, but he makes it the best simplicity. The Bridge 1995 by Gordon Parks has the contrast of the green background and the dark lines of the mountain. Even though it’s a simple photograph the picture is pretty.
Gordon Parks
Chain Gang, Alabama
1956