NY Times: The Woman in a Jim Crow Photo

[furcafe]

Nice article about Joanne Wilson, who appeared in a famous photo by Gordon Parks:

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/06/the-woman-in-the-picture/

In DC, we were recently privileged to see David Adamson's beautiful prints of this, & other iconic shots, in his gallery ( http://adamsongallery.com/exhibitions/2013-03-23_gordon-parks-an-american-lens/ ).

 

[nikon_sam]

A beautiful picture of an ugly scene...I know that during my lifetime this was going on but at the time I didn't know it...I wasn't around that type of blatant discrimination growing up...I am sad knowing that it happened in my lifetime...I also never understood why it was this way...

I must also mention that the color of my skin is dark (being of some unknown Hispanic descent) so seeing people being treated this way because of the color of their skin and I wasn't was confusing to say the least...as an adult I get it now, I understand why...but as a younger person I would see these picture and couldn't figure out why they were treated this way since I was just as dark as some of them...

 

[Sejanus.Aelianus]

I arrived in London a few years after the Notting Hill riots. It was still considered quite acceptable to call people with dark skins by a variety of names, which would now drop you in serious trouble.

So we progress, often two steps forward, one step sideways, one step backwards. Photographs like this series, did much to keep that tottering progress in the right direction and perhaps we can learn something good from the efforts of those "shooters".

 

[Rodchenko]

Absolutely. The photography was very important in getting over the message of the appalling things which were happening. And, crucially, get it stopped.

Photography and shared information can help us mature as a society.

 

[clayne]

It's amazing what an excellent job past generations did holding black Americans back from a fair and just existence. Really pisses me off. Aside from that, these photographs are important to look at and reflect on.