American Gothic (photograph)

American Gothic
A black-and-white photo of a somber middle-aged black janitress wearing rimless glasses and a polka dot dress stares off to the side. She holds a corn broom head up and a wet mop head behind her. A large American Flag hangs vertically in the background, slightly out of focus.
Alt text: Black and white photo of a somber middle-aged black janitress wearing rimless glasses and a polka dot dress stares off to the side. She is holds a corn broom head up and wet mop head up behind her. A large American Flag hangs vertically in the background, slightly out of focus.
ArtistGordon Parks
Year1942 (83 years ago) (1942)[1]
MediumGelatin silver print[2]
SubjectElla Watson[1]
Dimensions61 cm × 51 cm (24 in × 20 in)[2]

American Gothic (also known as American Gothic, Washington, D.C.[2]) is a photograph of Ella Watson, an American charwoman, taken by the photographer Gordon Parks in 1942.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] It is a reimagining of the 1930 painting American Gothic by Grant Wood.[7]

Time magazine considers American Gothic one of the "100 most influential photographs ever taken".[1][12]

Background

Ella Watson was born in Washington D.C., United States on either March 27 or March 29, 1883. She left school when she was 15, which is also when she began work as an ironer at Frazee Laundry in Washington.[13][14] Until 1919, census records show she worked intermittently as a maid and laundress, after which she was employed as a janitor by the United States Department of State, later a caretaker at a family's home, a different federal agency building, the Post Office Department, and then the Department of the Treasury in 1929, where she worked until 1944.[14] In Parks' memoir A Hungry Heart, by the time he met her in 1942, Watson's father was lynched, her husband shot to death in 1927,[14] her daughter died after bearing two illegitimate children.[15][16] At the time, she was living in an apartment and was raising her adopted daughter and grandchildren as a single parent.[17][14]

Gordon Parks was an American photographer who, through a fellowship from the Rosenwald Fund, arrived in Washington D.C. in January 1942, where he gained employment at the Historical Section of the Farm Security Administration under the management of Roy Stryker. While at Washington D.C., Parks personally witnessed rampant racial segregation and discrimination against Black Americans, which inspired him to document the poverty of the Black community in the area.[13][15]

Composition

While at the FSA, Stryker suggested to Parks that he should photograph Watson as part of his duties.[13] Parks then spoke with Watson and, after discovering her poor living condition, Parks decided to compose a photograph of her standing in front of the flag of the United States while holding a mop and a broom.[18] Parks would later name the photograph "American Gothic" in reference to the painting of the same name by Grant Wood.[18][19]

See also

Bibliography

  • McDannell, Colleen (2004-01-01). Picturing Faith: Photography and the Great Depression. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-13007-2.

References

  1. ^ a b c "American Gothic | 100 Photographs". Time. Archived from the original on 2016-11-19 – via Archive.today.
  2. ^ a b c "American Gothic, Washington, D.C." Buffalo AKG Art Museum. Archived from the original on 2023-10-22 – via Archive.today.
  3. ^ "From Sophie's Alley to the White House". National Archives and Records Administration. Archived from the original on 2023-10-22 – via Archive.today.
  4. ^ "American Gothic, Washington, D.C., Gordon Parks". Minneapolis Institute of Art. Archived from the original on 2023-10-22 – via Archive.today.
  5. ^ "How American Gothic became an icon". BBC. Archived from the original on 2023-10-22 – via Archive.today.
  6. ^ "WASHINGTON, D.C. AND ELLA WATSON, 1942 - Photography Archive". The Gordon Parks Foundation. Archived from the original on 2023-10-22 – via Archive.today.
  7. ^ a b "The Photography of Gordon Parks". Life. Archived from the original on 2023-10-22 – via Archive.today.
  8. ^ "Ella Watson United States Government Charwoman | Documenting America | Articles and Essays | Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives | Digital Collections". Library of Congress. Archived from the original on 2023-10-22 – via Archive.today.
  9. ^ Willis, Deborah (14 May 2018). "Ella Watson: The Empowered Woman of Gordon Parks's 'American Gothic'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2023-10-22 – via Archive.today.
  10. ^ "American Gothic III by Connor O'Rourke". American Icons. Archived from the original on 2023-10-22 – via Archive.today.
  11. ^ Lamb, Yvonne Shinhoster (8 March 2006). "'Life' Photographer And 'Shaft' Director Broke Color Barriers". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2023-10-22 – via Archive.today.
  12. ^ "About the Project | 100 Photographs". Time. Archived from the original on 2016-11-19 – via Archive.today.
  13. ^ a b c Lobel, Michael (October 2018). "ICONIC ENCOUNTER". Artforum. Vol. 57, no. 2. Retrieved 2024-07-23.
  14. ^ a b c d Tillet, Salamishah (2024-05-08). "She Was No 'Mammy'". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2024-07-23.
  15. ^ a b McDannell 2004, p. 256.
  16. ^ Parks, Gordon (2007-01-09). A Hungry Heart: A Memoir. Simon and Schuster. p. 64. ISBN 978-0-7432-6903-2.
  17. ^ McDannell 2004, p. 258.
  18. ^ a b Mullany, Tom (2023-10-11). ""Gordon Parks The Early Years: 1942-1963"". New Art Examiner. Retrieved 2024-07-31.
  19. ^ Willis, Deborah (2018-05-14). "Ella Watson: The Empowered Woman of Gordon Parks's 'American Gothic'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-07-31.