Gordon Parks hadn’t lived in the state for many decades, but Kansans took so much pride in his singular genius and groundbreaking success that his death Tuesday at age 93 hit very close to home. The photographs he took for Life will forever grab their viewer by the conscience, depicting compelling truths about riots in Harlem, segregation in the South, a street urchin in Brazil and even haute couture in Paris. His vast array of creative pursuits, from poetry to painting to directing “Shaft,” will continue to inspire Kansans. As he told a group of Wichita high school kids in 1994, “I’m not going to let anybody set limits on what I can dream. I’m going to go out there and dream and dream and dream.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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