THE ATMOSPHERE OF CRIME, 1957 - Gordon Parks
Parks embarked on a six-week journey that took him and a journalist through the streets of New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Unlike much of his earlier work, the images produced were in color. The resulting eight-page photo essay "The Atmosphere of Crime" was remarkable not only for its bold aesthetic sophistication, but also for the way it challenged the stereotypes of crime then ubiquitous in the mainstream media. Parks rejected the clichés of delinquency, drug use and corruption, opting for a more nuanced vision that reflected the social and economic factors associated with criminal behavior and a rare window into the working lives of those charged with preventing and prosecuting it. Transcending the romanticism of the gangster film, the suspense of crime and the racist representations of criminality then prevalent in American popular culture, Parks urged his camera to do what it does best: record reality so vividly and convincingly that it would enable Life readers to see the complexity of these chronically oversimplified situations. The Atmosphere of Crime, 1957 includes an extensive selection of previously unpublished photographs from Parks' original reportage.
Published by Steidl, 2020
25 cm x 29 cm, 120 pages, good condition
ISBN 978-3958296961
Parks embarked on a six-week journey that took him and a journalist through the streets of New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Unlike much of his earlier work, the images produced were in color. The resulting eight-page photo essay "The Atmosphere of Crime" was remarkable not only for its bold aesthetic sophistication, but also for the way it challenged the stereotypes of crime then ubiquitous in the mainstream media. Parks rejected the clichés of delinquency, drug use and corruption, opting for a more nuanced vision that reflected the social and economic factors associated with criminal behavior and a rare window into the working lives of those charged with preventing and prosecuting it. Transcending the romanticism of the gangster film, the suspense of crime and the racist representations of criminality then prevalent in American popular culture, Parks urged his camera to do what it does best: record reality so vividly and convincingly that it would enable Life readers to see the complexity of these chronically oversimplified situations. The Atmosphere of Crime, 1957 includes an extensive selection of previously unpublished photographs from Parks' original reportage.
Published by Steidl, 2020
25 cm x 29 cm, 120 pages, good condition
ISBN 978-3958296961
Parks embarked on a six-week journey that took him and a journalist through the streets of New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Unlike much of his earlier work, the images produced were in color. The resulting eight-page photo essay "The Atmosphere of Crime" was remarkable not only for its bold aesthetic sophistication, but also for the way it challenged the stereotypes of crime then ubiquitous in the mainstream media. Parks rejected the clichés of delinquency, drug use and corruption, opting for a more nuanced vision that reflected the social and economic factors associated with criminal behavior and a rare window into the working lives of those charged with preventing and prosecuting it. Transcending the romanticism of the gangster film, the suspense of crime and the racist representations of criminality then prevalent in American popular culture, Parks urged his camera to do what it does best: record reality so vividly and convincingly that it would enable Life readers to see the complexity of these chronically oversimplified situations. The Atmosphere of Crime, 1957 includes an extensive selection of previously unpublished photographs from Parks' original reportage.
Published by Steidl, 2020
25 cm x 29 cm, 120 pages, good condition
ISBN 978-3958296961
