Mourners after 1956

Gordon Parks made this photograph called 'Mourners' and I'm immediately drawn to the surface of the image. It's not paint, but it has a very painterly quality. Parks has orchestrated these figures in a shallow space, and the light is almost sculptural. I wonder what he was thinking as he watched and framed this scene? Grief is such a personal, yet universal experience, and here it's captured in such a public way. See the way the woman in the center places her hand on the shoulder of the girl in white? It's such a simple, yet tender gesture. Parks wasn't just documenting a moment in time, he was also creating a space for empathy and reflection. He makes me think of other artists who have explored themes of loss and mourning in their work, like Käthe Kollwitz or Alice Neel. We're all in conversation with each other, finding new ways to express the complexities of the human experience, and to find our way back to each other.