--- ---  # A Fierce and Tender Eye: Gordon Parks on Poverty's Dire Toll by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Nov 29, 2012 1:59 AM UTC  Caption from LIFE. "A boy burdened with a family's cares." Caption from LIFE. "A boy burdened with a family's cares."Gordon Parks by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Nov 29, 2012 1:59 AM UTC In June 1961, LIFE magazine published a story that, at the time, was astonishing not only for its unflinching coverage of abject poverty, but for the tender and fierce way that photographer Gordon Parks chronicled lives crushed and twisted beneath that poverty’s relentless pressure. That the story focused on poverty in Latin America — and, through Parks’ lens, focused on poverty in one family in one _favela_, or shantytown, in Rio de Janeiro — added a global as well as a deeply human dimension to a story that few American publications of the era could have envisioned, much less pursued. The story that ran in LIFE, “Freedom’s Fearful Foe: Poverty,” was remarkable for a variety of reasons, not least of them Parks’ intimate portraits of the family of Jose and Nair da Silva and their eight children, ranging in age from 12 years to 17 months old. LIFE showed its readers a frightening, brutal world where the da Silva children — and, by implication, countless others like them — spent their days “penned in their shack \[built of tin cans and broken orange crates\] or roaming the foul pathways of the _favela_ where the filth of the inhabitants is tossed out to rot.” At the center of the story was the eldest da Silva son, 12-year-old Flavio; after his father was hurt and could not work, the burden of caring for the entire family landed on Flavio. His struggle to keep the family afloat, even while he himself was sick — and getting sicker — is tortuously clear in Park’s photos. Here, LIFE.com republishes all of Park’s photos from “Freedom’s Fearful Foe,” while also offering a special appreciation of Parks by his friend, Barbara Baker Burrows (see below). Parks himself was a remarkable, inspiring creative force — a man whose protean talents were neatly summed up in the indispensable book, [**_The Great LIFE Photographers_**](http://www.amazon.com/The-Great-LIFE-Photographers-Editors/dp/0316097934): --- > “” --- “The anguish which poverty inflicts,” LIFE observed in 1961, “is cruel and varied — statistics cannot convey its accumulated torments and degradations. But poverty always has a human face.” Throughout his life, Gordon Parks sought to put a human face on the grand currents of history, as well as on quieter, more intimate, and often more revelatory moments. The Flavio story, in particular, always held a special resonance for Parks, as Barbara Baker Burrows explained to LIFE.com: --- > “” --- --- > “” --- --- > “” --- --- > “” --- --- > “” --- --- > “” --- --- > “” --- --- > “” --- --- > “” --- --- > “” --- --- > “” --- A new report from the country's preeminent scientific body warns of the danger of unchecked global warming Barbara Baker Burrows (left, with Gordon Parks in 1997) has been associated with LIFE for more than 45 years, assigning and coordinating photography for major events from coverage of the Apollo space program to political conventions and the Olympics. Among the books she has edited are the New York Times best seller, _One Nation, America Remembers September 11, 2001_, photographic biographies (_The American Journey of Barack Obama_; _Bob Dylan, Forever Young_) and _Titanic_. Bobbi lives in Manhattan with her husband, Russell. They have two children, James and Sarah.  Caption from LIFE. "In the shadowy slum world into which she was born in Rio de Janeiro, 3-year old Isabel da Silva cries to herself after vainly seeking comfort from her exhausted father, Jose." NOTE: This gallery is best viewed in "Full Screen" mode; see button at right. Gordon Parks  Caption from LIFE. "Straining up hill, with Luzia, 6, and Isabel, 3, following, Nair da Silva balances three gallons of water on head." NOTE: This gallery is best viewed in "Full Screen" mode; see button at right. Gordon Parks  Caption from LIFE. "On filth-strewn paths Mario da Silva, 8, howls after being bitten by neighbor's dog." NOTE: This gallery is best viewed in "Full Screen" mode; see button at right. Gordon Parks  Caption from LIFE. "Home for da Silva family is hillside jumble of squatters' huts beneath Rio's famous statue of Christ." Gordon Parks  Caption from LIFE. "The baby, Zacaria, 1, explores the path leading beneath the pilings which support shack." Gordon Parks  Caption from LIFE. "The family's day begins at dawn. In the biggest room of the shack,6 by 10 feet, 12-year-old Flavio gets himself up. While the rest of the family sleep -- the parents and five children in one bed, the other two in the crib -- Flavio puts a tin can of water on the fire and throws in some coffee. Sometimes there is hard bread to put in it. For them all, including the baby, that is breakfast." Gordon Parks  Caption from LIFE. "In constant struggle to keep the shack in order, Flavio tries to arrange covers of family bed. There are no sheets or pillows." Gordon Parks  Caption from LIFE. "Pouring water into family's cooking pot, Flavio starts meal for brothers and sisters. Flavio says, 'Some day I want to live in a real house, on a real street, with pots and pans and a bed with sheets.'" Gordon Parks  Caption from LIFE. "A boy burdened with a family's cares." Gordon Parks  Caption from LIFE. "Dead neighbor of Da Silvas lies with vigil candles awaiting burial. Pillow for her head and linen sheets used for shrouds are amenities few favelados receive in life. When Gordon Parks asked one favelado about his six children, he replied, 'There were nine. The other three are with God. He was good enough to take them.'" Gordon Parks  Caption from LIFE. "Sick and exhausted from week's care of the family, Flavio rests on Sunday when his mother is free to look after brothers and sisters. 'I am not afraid of death,' he explained earnestly to Parks. 'But what will they do after?'" Gordon Parks  Caption from LIFE. "At Copacabana Beach where Gordon Parks took them, Mario and Flavio play in sand. The beach is only 10 minutes from their home but neither had ever visited it." Gordon Parks  Caption from LIFE. "In the favela, Parks carries baby Zacarias up the hill to the shack to be cleaned up." Gordon Parks   Page spreads from the June 16, 1961, issue of LIFE. NOTE: Best viewed in "Full Screen" mode; see button at right. Gordon Parks for LIFE Magazine  Page spreads from the June 16, 1961, issue of LIFE. NOTE: Best viewed in "Full Screen" mode; see button at right. Gordon Parks for LIFE Magazine  Page spreads from the June 16, 1961, issue of LIFE. NOTE: Best viewed in "Full Screen" mode; see button at right. Gordon Parks for LIFE Magazine  Page spreads from the June 16, 1961, issue of LIFE. NOTE: Best viewed in "Full Screen" mode; see button at right. Gordon Parks for LIFE Magazine  Page spreads from the June 16, 1961, issue of LIFE. NOTE: Best viewed in "Full Screen" mode; see button at right. Gordon Parks for LIFE Magazine  Page spreads from the June 16, 1961, issue of LIFE. NOTE: Best viewed in "Full Screen" mode; see button at right. Gordon Parks for LIFE Magazine  Page spreads from the June 16, 1961, issue of LIFE. NOTE: Best viewed in "Full Screen" mode; see button at right. Gordon Parks for LIFE Magazine Poverty in Rio: Revisiting a Landmark LIFE Photo Essay From 1961 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3875106/gordon-parks-classic-photo-essay-flavio/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3875106/gordon-parks-classic-photo-essay-flavio/"},"headline":"A Fierce and Tender Eye: Gordon Parks on Poverty's Dire Toll","datePublished":"2012-11-29T01:59:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:03:54.637Z","description":"LIFE.com republishes all of the photos from Gordon Parks' landmark 1961 LIFE magazine photo essay , \"Freedom's Fearful Foe: Poverty,\" about the slums of Rio de Janeiro.","url":"https://time.com/3875106/gordon-parks-classic-photo-essay-flavio/","keywords":["gordon parks","poverty","brazil","Rio de Janeiro","black and white photography","1961"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6d039a592b2d512b/698848c8524fc09ef5df1d83/09_01007635.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ben Cosgrove","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6d039a592b2d512b/698848c8524fc09ef5df1d83/09_01007635.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Gordon Parks, Brazil, 1961","caption":"Caption from LIFE. \"A boy burdened with a family's cares.\"","creditText":"Gordon Parks","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/gordon-parks/","name":"gordon parks"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3875106/gordon-parks-classic-photo-essay-flavio/","name":"A Fierce and Tender Eye: Gordon Parks on Poverty's Dire Toll"}}]}] ```