These photos of Harlem were taken by Gordon Parks, a young photographer for the Office of War Information who would go on to become one of the most renowned photographers of the twentieth century.
Born in 1912, Parks left home at the age of 15 and bought his first camera in a pawn shop at 25. He made a living as a portrait and glamour photographer in Chicago while simultaneously capturing compassionate images of black life on the city’s South Side.
