Gordon Parks was a multifaceted artist known for his work as a photographer, poet, composer, director, and mentor. He used his talents to highlight the lives and humanity of people, especially those from marginalized communities. Born in Fort Scott, Kansas, Parks co-founded the Gordon Parks Foundation in 2006 with Philip B. Kunhardt Jr., an editor at Life magazine. The foundation aims to promote and support artistic and educational projects that carry on Parks’s legacy. To mark the foundation’s 20th anniversary, the Jack Shainman Gallery in New York is hosting the exhibit Gordon Parks: Voices in the Mirror, named after his final memoir from 1990. The exhibit features reflections from notable individuals on Parks’s influence and the enduring impact of his work. Lonnie Ali, wife of the late boxer Muhammad Ali and interim president of the Muhammad Ali Center, shared her thoughts on a 1966 photograph of Ali in London. The image captured Ali in a thoughtful, unposed moment, showcasing Parks’s ability to reveal the inner life of his subjects. Lonnie also noted that an article Parks wrote about Ali helped people see beyond his public persona, revealing his wit and charm. Kyle Johnson, who appeared in Parks’s film The Learning Tree, described Parks as a calm and approachable director who was committed to telling the stories of Black Americans. The film was groundbreaking as it was the first major Hollywood studio film directed, produced, and scored by a Black director. Johnson praised the film for portraying Black people as full human beings and recalled a photograph from Parks’s book Arias in Silence, where a leaf seemed to embody the essence of life and spirit. Rebecca Walker, a writer and co-founder of the Third Wave, reflected on a powerful image from Parks’s collection: a Black middle-class father and his children at an ice cream shop with a sign separating "White" and "Colored." The image captured the dignity of the father and the historical weight of the moment, echoing her mother’s experiences in the Jim Crow South. Walker emphasized that Parks’s work was guided by empathy and compassion, focusing on the humanity of his subjects rather than the harsh realities of their time. Hank Willis Thomas, a conceptual artist, described Parks as a Renaissance figure who broke through societal barriers. He highlighted the historical significance of Parks’s photographs, which told stories of empathy, courage, and perseverance. Thomas referenced Parks’s American Gothic, a photograph taken during a government assignment to document American life. He believed that Parks’s work encouraged viewers to look closely at their surroundings and to witness the world with deeper awareness. The exhibit Gordon Parks: Voices in the Mirror is on display at the Jack Shainman Gallery in New York until 6 November.