Gordon Parks photo of Ella Watson might not be as famous as that other 'American Gothic', the painting by Grant Wood but this book makes the photo come alive and reveals fascinating details about Mrs Watson, her family and the Washington DC community where she lived.
The first forty-three pages have four illustrated essays about the position of the Black population in Washington and Parks work for the Office of War Information. The last one by Melanee Harvey contributes an excellent overview of the Verbrycke Spiritual Church which was so important to Ella Watson. The essays are followed by sixty photos that Parks took of Ella at work cleaning government offices, street scenes, stores and the congregation at the Spiritual Church. A worthwhile touch here is showing some of the OWI photos on their file cards with the original captions and photo reference numbers.
An intriguing part of the book are forty pages of Ella's government records from 1919 to 1944. These, apparently, are just a small selection of Ella's several hundred documents in the National Archives in St Louis. (Perhaps worth saying that all government employees have their papers stored in the Archive.) Some pages reproduce creditors' letters sent to her employers saying she was behind with her payments for goods, included are her handwritten replies.
The book is the usual first-class print job from Steidl using a 175 screen for the photos printed on a matt art paper. The book is a revealing celebration of Ella Watson's life and her community through the photos by Parks and the contributors' essays.
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