(born Nov. 30, 1912, Fort Scott, Kan., U.S.—died March 7, 2006, New York, N.Y.) U.S. writer, photographer, and film director.
As the first African American staff photographer for Life (1948–72), Parks became known for his portrayals of ghetto life, black nationalists, and the civil rights movement. His first work of fiction was The Learning Tree (1963), a novel about a black adolescent in Kansas in the 1920s. He combined poetry and photography in collections such as A Poet and His Camera (1968) and Glimpses Toward Infinity (1996). In 1968 he became the first African American to direct a major motion picture with his film adaptation of The Learning Tree. He later directed Shaft (1971), which helped give rise to the genre of African American action films known as “blaxploitation.” Parks also composed music.
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