Another connection …
My
ears perked up when I heard that many of the iconic photos of
Muhammad Ali were taken by Gordon Parks. I never met him but my
husband, Dick, worked with him at “LIFE” magazine and admired him
greatly.
I
met Dick in 1957, the year that he left his job as assistant
photographer to start his own free lance business. He had worked
with an array of well known “shutter bugs” at “LIFE”, such as
Eliot Elisofon and Margaret Bourke-White but Gordon Parks was
definitely his favorite.
Gordon
had a great sense of humor and he loved to act goofy. If you were
walking with him, Dick said, he would suddenly scoot over to the edge
of the sidewalk and continue walking with one foot on the sidewalk
and the other on the street … making it look like he was
staggering. This would often promote barbed remarks and disgusted
looks from those he passed but this just made him act even goofier !
My husband had a lot of this silliness in his personality too so they
got along just fine.
Gordon Parks was famous for putting his clients at ease and portraying the “real” person in his photos. It makes me wonder what he said to Ali to elicit this reaction ?
posted by Ginnie at 5:00 PM
6 Comments:
There are so many 'behind the scene" people who have brought the rest of the world to our eyes and ears... We seldom think of them, just the subjects they portray.
Interesting!
Such a wonderful story, Ginnie. I enjoy learning more personal details about famous friends of your family. It fills in the personality of people I only knew from the headlines or their work. Thank you for sharing. You and your husband led such interesting lives!
It's neat to be able to peg the photo to someone you know.
I remember Margaret Bourke White. I think I saw Candice bergan play her in a film or two.
Most interesting. Thanks!
It would be interesting to know what was said to elicit that pose from Ali.
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