[.ca] Half Past Autumn (ISBN 0821222988)

From Amazon.com:
Gordon Parks is one of the 20th century's greatest multitalented cultural treasures: a writer, poet, musician, composer, filmmaker, and photographer. In this book--the companion volume to a traveling retrospective--the full flower of Parks's genius is both awe-inspiring in its depth and thorough in its demolition of the era's social-science fictions about African American potential. Born in Kansas, Parks wandered as a homeless teen, and through wit, smarts, and improvisation--and no experience--landed a job as a photographer for the Farm Security Administration, then with his new skill took pictures for Life magazine. "Tyrants, dictators, dethroned kings," he writes, "all stared into my camera with eyes that were unveiled. The camera revealed them as they were--human beings imprisoned inside themselves." Highlights among his photographic work include the haunting shot of domestic Ella Watson, the starkness of a 1940s teenaged gang leader named Red Jackson lying eternally young in his coffin, and the elegant, life-and-death ballet of the Spanish bullfight. Parks's depiction of Duke Ellington's towering music in motion reflects the importance of jazz and blues in Parks's artistry. From the films Shaft and The Learning Tree (the latter adapted from his own novel) to his impressionistic ballet honoring Martin Luther King Jr., his work swings with an American rhythm that continues to inspire him. "A musical theme vibrates in my sleep," he writes. "I get up, go to the piano, and jot it down. A blustery sky, a crescent moon, or the blazing sun can hurry me to poetry, or to the camera. When the doors of promise open, the trick is to quickly walk through them." --Eugene Holley Jr.

photojournalism master:
mr. parks' book is autobiographical in photo and text. the book reveals his journey to becoming a documentor of turbulent times during his career. this is a must purchase.

learned so much in one day:
Seeing the exhibit was the most wonderful day of my life. Getting the book was the next best day. I am not sure if another photographer so talented in all fields will ever appear again. Raad A Choice of Weapons also by Gordon Parks, it will help reinforce the Retrospective.

Superb account of the world he's experienced!:
Through his poetry and photographs, Parks does an excellent job of allowing the reader to some into the world he has experienced over the years. You feel like you've gone off on assignment with him and like you've have expericned the bigotry first hand. The messages he conveys through his work were way ahead of his time, but right on time in today's world. His intelligence brightly shines through both his photographs and poetry. The narratives, photographs and poetry all make for an outstanding compilation of his feelings and views on the world. Marvelous!

Note to Amazon.com from Gordon Park's assistant::
Please note that the cover that you show on the internet is incorrect. I am the photgrapher and what you show is the photograph that was used for the dummy book shown at the book fair. The photograph shown is an unpublished photgraph. Please look at the book for the actual cover.

A Great Book by a Great Photographer:
Buy this book and see the wonderful and varied career of Gordon Parks. See the world through this stunning photographer's eyes, and you will never see the world the same again. Then buy *A Choice of Weapons* and find out how this man came to create these masterworks. Everyone knows his genius as a photographer, filmmaker, and composer, but people may not know that he is a master memoirist as well. Put this book and *A Choice of Weapons* on your Christmas list!