At the Poverty Board: Bessie and Kenneth, Little Richard, Norman Jr., and Ellen after 1967

Gordon Parks took this photograph, At the Poverty Board: Bessie and Kenneth, Little Richard, Norman Jr., and Ellen, using black and white film. The image plunges us right into the thick of it, doesn't it? I mean, look at these faces—the weariness, the vulnerability. I can only imagine the starkness of the room, lit by the flat, grey light coming through that window. It reminds me that every photograph, like every painting, is a document of a particular moment, shaped by the choices and perspectives of the person holding the camera. Parks must have been deeply moved by the family's situation and the bleakness of the setting. I find myself wondering about the exchange between the family and the board. I want to know what was said, what wasn't said, what could never be said. The picture is filled with a sense of desperation, as if everything is balanced on a knife's edge. Artists like Parks remind us that our job is to pay attention, to witness, and to respond. That is a vital contribution to the conversation about the world.