LATEST DISCOUNTS & SALES: PROMOTIONS

Close Notification

Your cart does not contain any items

Gordon Parks

The Flávio Story

Gordon Parks Paul Roth Amanda Maddox

$65

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

QTY:

English
Steidl Verlag
01 February 2018
"This book explores a once-popular picture story by Gordon Parks and the extraordinary chain of events it prompted. Published in Life magazine in June 1961 as ""Poverty: Freedom's Fearful Foe,"" this empathetic photo-essay profiled the da Silva family, living in a hillside favela near a wealthy enclave of Rio de Janeiro. Focused primarily on the eldest son Flavio, an industrious twelve-year-old suffering from crippling asthma, Parks' story elicited more than 3,000 letters and $25,000 in donations from Life readers to help the family and the favela. In Brazil the story sparked controversy; one news magazine, O Cruzeiro, retaliated against Life, sending photographer Henri Ballot to document poverty in New York City. Undeterred, Life embarked on a multi-year ""rescue"" effort that involved moving Flavio to a Denver hospital, relocating the family to a new home and administering funds to support the favela. The story, as well as Parks' relationship to Flavio, continued to develop over many years. The details of this extraordinary history provide a fascinating example of US exceptionalism during the early 1960s and a revealing look inside the power and cultural force of the ""Great American Magazine."""

By:   , ,
Imprint:   Steidl Verlag
Country of Publication:   Germany
Dimensions:   Height: 290mm,  Width: 250mm, 
Weight:   2.110kg
ISBN:   9783958293441
ISBN 10:   3958293441
Pages:   304
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Gordon Parks was born in Fort Scott, Kansas, in 1912. An itinerant laborer, he worked as a brothel pianist and railcar porter, among other jobs, before buying a camera at a pawnshop, training himself, and becoming a photographer. In addition to his storied tenures photographing
for the Farm Security Administration (1941-45) and Life magazine (1948-72), Parks evolved into a modern-day Renaissance man, finding success as a film director, writer and composer. He wrote numerous memoirs, novels and books of poetry, and received many awards, including the National Medal of Arts and more than 50 honorary degrees. Parks died in 2006.

Reviews for Gordon Parks: The Flávio Story

"No wonder Parks kept returning to Brazil and ultimately assembled his images in a book titled Flávio. His face, body, and disposition in the wonderful photograph, wherein he is at home and both entrapped in a world still dominated by the outsider visions of Rio de Janeiro--at the very top of Parks's photograph we still catch a glimpse of the memorable statue, Christ the Redeemer monument (Cristo Redentor) which suggests the image Rio presents to the world--hiding the reality of many of its citizen's lives.--Douglas Messerli ""Hyperallergic"""


See Also