Flavio and his Father Looking out the Window 1961

Gordon Parks captured Flavio and his father looking out of the window with his camera. It’s a photograph, but it feels like a painting. I wonder what Parks was thinking when he shot this. Was he aiming for something documentary, or was he seeing something else? Look at the composition, how the figures are placed in relation to the window, to each other. How much is inside, and how much outside? The light is dim, but it picks out their faces, the lines of worry and hope. Parks knew his stuff; the texture, the tones, the way the light falls. He probably wanted us to feel something, to connect with these people. He leaves space for us to bring our own stuff too, and I admire that generosity.