Mrs. Mullens, Fort Scott, Kansas 1950

Gordon Parks made this photograph, Mrs. Mullens, Fort Scott, Kansas, and we can really appreciate the tonality and the gradations of gray that he used to create a visual narrative. Parks has a way of finding the human experience, even in the most mundane settings. Here, the texture of the wooden porch almost speaks, doesn't it? Look at the way the light catches the edges of the planks, creating a rhythm that leads your eye to Mrs. Mullens herself. Her face, framed by a scarf, is a study in resilience. It is as though each line tells a story, a mark of time etched onto her skin. It reminds me of the quiet portraits of Alice Neel, and how she has a similar way of understanding the human form. Both Parks and Neel have a way of understanding that art is all about having a continuous conversation. Both understand that ambiguity can allow for multiple interpretations.