Gordon Parks, best known for his photographs of the civil rights movement, spent two years in the French capital working for Life Magazine from 1949 to 1951. There he immortalized American expatriate teenagers and the breathing space that Paris afforded black artists from his country. Several of his images can be seen at the Pompidou Centre as part of the Paris Noir exhibition.

He earned his place in history as the photographer of civil rights, of the misery of black ghettos, and of the dignity of those who lived there. He was also, very briefly but passionately, one of the many photographers fascinated by Paris. When Gordon Parks (1912-2006) arrived in France at the end of the 1940s, he was already well known. Born into a family of Black farmers in Kansas, he grew up surrounded by 15 brothers and sisters. He scraped by, working a series of odd jobs in an America still reeling from the 1929 crash, before discovering photography, rather late in life. His name then quickly circulated among newspaper editors.

He joined the team of Life Magazine, a weekly publication with a circulation of over one million. Parks had a feel for documentary, liked tackling difficult subjects and had a unique perspective. He was assigned fashion and celebrity photography, and in 1949 he arrived in Paris to cover the haute couture collections. He then left for Italy, where he was able to go to the set of Stromboli, Roberto Rossellini's first film, starring Ingrid Bergman. His images of the Hollywood star surrounded by fishermen from the Aeolian Island and the filmmaker, overwhelmed by the heat, directing the actress with whom he was falling in love, impressed Parks' editor-in-chief, Wilson Hicks. In 1950, Hicks offered Parks the job of being Life's Paris correspondent. He moved there with his wife, Sally Alvis, and their three children, and stayed for two years.

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