fashion is love: civil rights

Saturday, February 17, 2018

everyday beauty

i went to Chelsea a week or so ago to see Gordon Parks' fashion photos before the exhibit I Am You/ Part I at Jack Shainman Gallery closed.

in addition to the important civil rights era work for which he is widely known, Gordon Parks freelanced for many publications, from Ebony and Vogue to LIFE Magazine, where he was the first African American staff photographer and writer.

he is attributed with being one of the first to showcase a distinctive "street style" aesthetic, with photos styled in locations as wide ranging as manhattan streets to malibu and san diego beach.

here is a photograph that may be familiar to fellow fashionistas: Bettina (Bettina Graziani) modeling fall college clothes for Vogue photographer Frances McLaughlin-Gill, taken across from Hunter College here in New York, 1950.

Gordon Parks I am You: Part I
summary credits to jack shaman gallery,
including photography historian and gordon parks foundation member deborah willis

i wanted to stay forever to absorb the energy of this space and the vision transmitted through the mesmerizing melange of fashion and celebrity photographs, portraits of artists in their studios and civil rights era subjects.

i will return to the 24th street gallery for I Am You/Part II which opened on February 15th and runs through March 24th.

hope to see you there...