Children Looking Through Window of Car, Harlem 1943

Gordon Parks made this gelatin silver print of children looking through a window in Harlem. Parks is really asking us to consider who is looking at whom. The children are framed, almost pressed against the glass and their faces are very present. I imagine Parks, as a Black man, wanting to capture the spirit and resilience of these kids, thinking about how they see the world. You can feel that kind of exchange, even in the density of black and white. Think about how the act of taking a photograph, like making a painting, is an attempt to capture a moment or feeling, to freeze it in time. What does it mean to see childhood this way, what does it mean to see Harlem this way? Parks is in conversation with other artists, other photographers, about how to represent life, how to represent Black life. And like a painter, he’s using light and shadow to create depth and emotion, inviting us to look, really look, at what’s in front of us.