(In 1942 Gordon Parks will make one of his most famous photographs, known as American Gothic – reference to the famous painting American Gothic (1930) by Grant Wood )
In 1942 Gordon Parks arrives in Washington to work in the photographic section of the F.S.A. (Farm Security Administration), and to record the city’s African-American community, as it had done in Chicago before.
The program’s director is Roy Stryker, who is well aware of the hostility and racism that black photographer Gordon Parks will face in Washington. For this reason, he initially advises him to explore the city without having the camera with him. Roy Stryker was right. Restaurants refused to serve him, theaters threw him out, and in a clothing store they refused to sell him a coat. Frustrated and morally broken, Gordon Parks returns to F.S.A. Roy Stryker will then suggest that he begin photographing near home. Following his advice, he finds his first issue inside the offices of F.S.A.
Her name was Ella Watson and she was a cleaner at the F.S.A. The story told to Gordon Parks was tragic. Her mother had died and her father had been lynched to death. Her husband was killed two days before their daughter was born. When her daughter was eighteen, she died at the birth of her second child, so Ella Watson found herself taking care of her two grandchildren.
At the end of their conversation, Gordon Parks asked her if she could take a photo and Ella agreed. For four months Gordon Parks gained access to her work, home, church, and community, and not only did he gain access to the harsh reality of black life in Washington.
Ella Watson’s classic photo with a broom and a mop in front of the American flag is now one of Gordon Parks’ most famous.
