Washington, D.C. As in Moses' time, members of the St. Martins Spiritual Church remove their shoes during the annual "flower bowl demonstration" because during this service they walk on holy ground
1942, printed later
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image: 46.7 × 34.1 cm (18 3/8 × 13 7/16 in.) sheet: 50.5 × 41 cm (19 7/8 × 16 1/8 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Corcoran Collection (The Gordon Parks Collection)
Accession Number
2016.117.107
Art Historical Context
In 1942, renowned photographer Gordon Parks captured a poignant moment during the annual "flower bowl" at St. Martins Spiritual Church in, D.C. Titled *Washington, D.C. in Moses' time, of the St. Martins Spiritual Church remove their shoes during annual "flower bowl demonstration because during this service they on holy ground*, the silver print depicts worshippers reverently removing their shoes before stepping onto sacred ground, evoking the biblical story of Moses and the burning bush. Parks, a trailblazing African American artist, used his lens to illuminate the richness of Black spiritual...
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...