Ghetto Boy, Chicago 1953

Curator: What strikes you first about this piece? Editor: A sort of bittersweet tenderness. The grimy urban backdrop... yet this boy is draped in what looks like a delicate lace shawl. It's Gordon Parks' "Ghetto Boy, Chicago" from 1953. Curator: Parks shot this image, using black and white photography, as part of a larger project documenting poverty in Chicago. The boy, wrapped in what is essentially a discarded curtain, exudes a strange sort of regal air, doesn't he? Editor: Absolutely, there's a deliberate contrast there. Notice the texture--the coarse pavement under his worn sneakers versus the intricate, almost feminine, pattern of the lace. The juxtaposition forces you to reconcile these very different realities existing simultaneously. There is also the soft furriness of the dog moving next to the main figure that enhances these variations. Curator: And look at the architectural details: the harsh lines of the stairs behind him are like a cage. His gaze, directed beyond the frame, suggests a longing, perhaps for escape. I wonder what he is thinking. I would really enjoy hearing the thoughts that rushed through his head at this very moment in time. Editor: The composition leads the eye upward. From the rubble-strewn ground, the dog blur, the boy and his gaze upwards and towards the light, which almost acts like a silent, powerful statement about hope in a hopeless surrounding. The desaturated tonality helps draw attention to texture as the primary language of the composition. Curator: Parks was so gifted at capturing quiet resilience. The "Ghetto Boy," despite his circumstances, is presented not as a victim, but as a young king momentarily adorned. There's defiance, isn’t it? And a little bit of beauty? Editor: Precisely! It’s in this unexpected combination that the image’s strength resides. He takes possession of his surroundings with pride even though the setting appears less-than-ideal and rough. And for me that speaks to Parks’ own empathetic eye. He transforms the ordinary into something dignified, beautiful, and profoundly moving. Curator: It makes you consider the things that give us our identities - what we discard, and what we cherish. I believe this shot, for me at least, achieves that in a beautifully economical way.