Sandra K. Friday
This last photo in the unit is not taken by Parks but rather is taken by his son, Gordon, Jr. of Gordon Parks on location in 1965, (
HPA
, p. 253), directing
The Learning Tree
, a film based on his autobiographical novel.
Because I have explicated this photograph in Lesson Plan # 2, I will not go into great detail here but to say that in this, the only color photo in the collection, Parks veritably soars in the blue sky, having been lifted along with his assistant and the camera man on a platform, over the scene that he is directing. He holds a megaphone, a symbol of his role as director, and in a way, an extension of his camera.
This photograph is also a powerful contrast with "Children with Doll," Lesson Plan # 1.