Battered Man, Harlem, New York 1948

Gordon Parks captured this photograph, “Battered Man, Harlem, New York,” to offer a stark vision of urban suffering. The bloodied face and the gesture of the hand covering the eye resonate with the iconography of martyrdom found in religious paintings. This motif echoes across centuries. We can trace it back to images of blinded saints, such as Saint Lucy, whose eyes were said to have been removed by her persecutors. This symbolic blinding represents a loss of spiritual insight. Similarly, in Parks’ photograph, the covered eye suggests not only physical pain but also the obscured vision of justice and equality. The collective memory of suffering, embedded deep within the human psyche, resurfaces here. This image confronts us with the raw, unfiltered reality of violence and vulnerability, sparking a visceral emotional response. Parks uses this visual language to engage viewers, compelling us to confront uncomfortable truths about the cyclical nature of pain and resilience. The symbols speak of a non-linear progression of suffering through time.