Untitled, Chicago, Illinois
Gordon Parks
American, 1912–2006
1957
A color photograph by Gordon Parks that frames a small, tense domestic scene in Chicago, using light and posture to suggest an unfolding personal and social drama.
The room's saturated red walls and a single candle split the scene into deep shadow and warm highlight as two men clasp hands over a cluttered table while a third figure curls into the curtains, creating an intimate, uneasy moment full of narrative suggestion.
Made in the 1950s, the picture typifies Parks's fusion of documentary reporting and lyrical composition, helping to bring the private realities of marginalized communities into public view and showing how color photography could carry serious social critique.
Medium
Inkjet print, printed 2019
Dimensions
11 7/8 × 17 15/16" (30.1 × 45.6 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
The Family of Man Fund
Accession
425.2019
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
