Farm house, Augusta, Maine
January 1944, printed later
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image: 44.6 × 37.5 cm (17 9/16 × 14 3/4 in.) sheet: 50.5 × 40.8 cm (19 7/8 × 16 1/16 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Corcoran Collection (The Gordon Parks Collection)
Accession Number
2016.117.127
Art Historical Context
Gordon Parks captured this evocative image of a farmhouse in Augusta, Maine, in January 1944. As a gelatin silver print, the photograph showcases the classic black-and-white process that emphasizes rich tonal contrasts and fine details in the rural landscape. Parks, an influential African American photographer and filmmaker, created this work early in his career, when he was documenting everyday American life with sensitivity and depth. The scene reflects a quiet moment in rural New England during World War II, inviting viewers to consider the resilience of farm communities at that time. Prin...
About the Artist
Gordon Parks
Gordon Parks (1912–2006), born the youngest of fifteen children to a Kansas tenant farmer and his wife in segregated Fort Scott, overcame a childhood marked by poverty, racism, and tragedy—including his mother's death at age fourteen—to become one of America's most influential chroniclers of Black life. Entirely self-taught after purchasing his first camera in 1937, inspired by Farm Security Admin...