{"product_id":"pittsburgh-grease-plant-by-gordon-parks","title":"\"Pittsburgh Grease Plant\" by Gordon Parks","description":"\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eGordon Parks\u003cspan\u003e was born into poverty and segregation in Fort Scott, Kansas, in 1912. He worked as a brothel pianist and railcar porter, among other jobs, before buying a camera at a pawnshop, training himself to become a photographer. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBy 1944, Parks had established himself as a photographer who freely navigated the fields of press and commercial photography with an unparalleled humanist perspective.  \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn 1944, The Standard Oil Company commissioned Parks to travel to Pittsburgh to document the Penola, Inc. Grease Plant. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEmploying his signature style, Parks spent two years chronicling the plant’s industry―critical to Pittsburgh’s history and character―by photographing its workers. The resulting photographs, dramatically staged and lit and striking in their composition, showed the range of activities engaged in by Black and white workers, divided as they were by roles, race and class. The images were used as marketing materials and made available to local and national newspapers, as well as corporate magazines and newsletters. However, they served as much more than documentation of industry, enduring as an exploration of labor and its social and economic ramifications in World War II America by one of the most influential artists of the 20th century.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFeaturing more than 100 photographs, this is the first book to focus exclusively on Parks’ photographs for the Standard Oil Company, illuminating an important chapter in his career prior to his landmark career as a staff photographer for \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eLife\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e.  \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn addition to his tenures photographing for the FSA (1941–45) and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eLife\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e magazine (1948–72), Parks evolved into a modern-day Renaissance man, finding success as a film director, writer and composer.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHardcover, 221 pages\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ingram","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43534402322690,"sku":"","price":65.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0084\/8727\/2506\/products\/IMG_3587.jpg?v=1675529122","url":"https:\/\/pittsburghmercantile.life\/products\/pittsburgh-grease-plant-by-gordon-parks","provider":"Pittsburgh Mercantile","version":"1.0","type":"link"}