John Edwin Mason

John Edwin Mason teaches African history and the history of photography at the University of Virginia. He is writing a book about Gordon Parks.

Recent Articles

These Photos of a Segregated U.S. Navy Unit Were Lost for Decades. They Still Have a Story to Tell

There are many ways to photograph a black person, and it's easy for things to go horribly wrong. America's long history of racist imagery makes that quite clear. Wayne Miller, a white man, was notable...

By John Edwin Mason

How a Photographer Illuminated the Plight of the 'Invisible Poor'

Jill Freedman's photographs of the 1968 Poor People's Campaign capture the plight of the people who came to Washington demanding to be seen

By John Edwin Mason

Gordon Parks and Ralph Ellison: How a Man 'Becomes Invisible'

Photographer Gordon Parks' collaborations with Ralph Ellison are the subject of a new exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago

By John Edwin Mason

How Gordon Parks' Photographs Implored White America to See Black Humanity

The LIFE photographer's work, on view at the Ulrich Museum of Art at Wichita State University, made the struggle against racism more relatable to the magazine's mostly white readers

By John Edwin Mason

Ingrid Bergman: How a Photograph Never Made Led to Her Most Memorable Portrait

When LIFE photographer Gordon Parks decided not to snap his shutter on the Swedish-born actress--who was born 100 years ago on Aug. 29--it paved the way for one of the most treasured portraits of her ever made

By John Edwin Mason

The Photos That Gave Americans Their First Glimpse of Apartheid in 1950

On the 25th anniversary of Nelson Mandela's release from prison, a historian examines the LIFE photo essay that introduced Americans to South Africa's devastating system of segregation

By John Edwin Mason

'Wow, Quel Babes!': American Teenagers in Paris in the 1950s

They scorned frog legs, drank Coca-Cola and studied Parisian charm. LIFE photographer Gordon Parks captured their carefree European lives, and experienced a new kind of freedom there, as well

By John Edwin Mason

Revisiting Gordon Parks' Classic Photo Essay, 'Harlem Gang Leader'

A new exhibition examines Gordon Parks' vision of what "Harlem Gang Leader" could have been and the photo essay as it ran in LIFE magazine.

By John Edwin Mason
More from TIME
More From TIME