EVENT: Gordon Parks International Photo Competition Winners Exhibit
DATE: Now through March 30
An exhibit of thought-provoking socially relevant photographs by winners of the “Gordon Parks International Photo Competition” will be on display in the Redlands Gallery on the campus of Redlands Community College, El Reno, through March 30. The exhibit will include winning photographs from the past years of the contest. The exhibit is on loan from Fort Scott Community College in Fort Scott, Kan., where the Parks Photography Contest is held each year.
The Gordon Parks International Photo Competition, now in its 17th year, honors Fort Scott native Gordon Parks, a well-known photographer, filmmaker, writer and composer. Parks, 92, was born and raised in Fort Scott, leaving when he was 15 years old. He went on to achieve several firsts— the first black photographer for Life magazine and the first black director to direct a major motion picture, The Learning Tree. One of the 25 films placed on the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 1989, The Learning Tree was filmed in Fort Scott. Parks also broke new ground with a hip black hero on the silver screen named Shaft. He went on to direct other films, to author several books, and to write original musical compositions, film scores, and a ballet titled Martin, in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
He established his reputation as a world-renowned photojournalist for Life magazine, chronicling the Civil Rights movement for two decades. His work for Vogue magazine established him as a master of fashion photography. A major retrospective exhibit of Parks’s work, Half Past Autumn: The Art of Gordon Parks opened at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. in 1998 and is currently touring across the United States. HBO produced a documentary on Parks, also titled Half Past Autumn.
Parks received the National Medal of Arts in 1988 and has received over 50 honorary doctorates. He lives in New York City and continues to create his fifth autobiography and a new book of poetry that will be published this year.
The Gordon Parks International Photo Competition at FSCC is part of The Gordon Parks Center for Culture and Diversity, which also sponsors an annual festival-type Celebration, presents noted speakers throughout the year, and is home to the Gordon Parks Collection.
Each year, the photo competition receives over 150 entries from amateur and professional photographers from around the world. The entries are judged by the photography staffs of several major newspapers, with the final group of 15-18 photographs judged by a noted photographer. For the 2004 contest, Parks himself picked the winners from 18 finalists. The first place winner receives a cash prize of $1,000, with second place receiving $500 and third place $250.
Photographs submitted for the contest must reflect the important themes in the life and works of Gordon Parks, such as social injustice, the suffering of others, or family values. More information on the contest can be found at www.fortscott.edu under the special events link. . Admission to the RCC Fine Arts Gallery is Free. The gallery is located in the Larry F. Devane Multimedia Building. The gallery is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Contact: Randle Lee, 405.422.1257