Mr. and Mrs. Albert Thornton, Mobile, Alabama1956 Archival pigment print, Ed. of 7
34 x 34 inches
40 3/4 x 39 3/4 inches (framed) UntitledUntitled, Mobile, Alabama, 1956 (GPAR 0013)
Archival pigment print, Ed. of 7
34 x 34 inches
40 3/4 x 39 3/4 inches (framed)

I visited the High Museum this past weekend to view a special exhibition of work by famed photographer, Gordon Parks.  The focus of this exhibit is a series of believed-to-be-lost images from very early work of his.  If you didn't know, Parks began as a photographer for Life magazine.  In fact, he was the first and only black photographer Life employed at the time, which was a very big deal considering it was a publication reaching millions of readers across America and Europe every week.

The High exhibit showcases prints from an assignment Parks was given during his Life magazine days.  His mission: to document segregation in the south.  Not only was this a dangerous mission (after all, being a Life photographer didn't make him immune to segregation and racism), but it was also one that hit very close to home, and weighed heavily on as the project went on.

UntitledUntitled, Mobile, Alabama, 1956 (GPAR 0008)
Archival pigment print, Ed. of 7
34 x 34 inches
40 3/4 x 39 3/4 inches (framed) Mother and ChildrenGordon Parks
Mother and Children, Mobile, Alabama, 1956
Archival pigment print, Ed. of 10
28 x 28 inches
34 1/4 x 33 1/3 inches (framed)

The exhibit will be on display through June 7, 2015.  If you are a Bank of American customer, you can attend the High for free every first Saturday of the month through their Museum On Us initiative.  Residents of Fulton County can also attend the High at no cost every first weekend of the month by simply showing your Drivers License or Georgia ID.

http://www.high.org/Art/Exhibitions/Gordon-Parks-Segregation-Story.aspx

As a photographer currently seeking to dive deeper into the medium, it was interesting to learn that the High Museum has the largest collection of photographs in the Southeast, and thus is considered to be one of the most robust programs in the country.  The High has been collecting photographic art since the early 1970's, back before photographs were truly concerned "art" by mainstream curators and collectors.  I think a new goal has just been set in my spirit: to one day see some of my work hanging in it's galleries. :)