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Off on My Own (Harlem, New York), from the series "Harlem is Nowhere"

A work made of gelatin silver print.

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  • A work made of gelatin silver print.

Date:

1948

Artist:

Gordon Parks
American, 1912-2006

About this artwork

Harlem is Nowhere paired photographs by Gordon Parks with an essay by writer Ralph Ellison to explore Black life in Harlem. Ellison wrote, “Many of [Harlem’s] ordinary aspects (its crimes, its casual violence, its crumbling buildings with littered areaways, ill-smelling halls, and vermin-invaded rooms) are indistinguishable from the distorted images that appear in dreams.” Here, the large black bands that sweep across the composition render the scene surreal. Street pole, doorway, and facade become indiscernible except in relation to each other, and the silhouetted figure is cast as the average Harlemite, “off on one’s own.”

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Photography and Media

Artist

Gordon Parks

Title

Off on My Own (Harlem, New York), from the series "Harlem is Nowhere"

Place

United States (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1948

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Dimensions

Image/paper: 33.8 × 24.8 cm (13 5/16 × 9 13/16 in.)

Credit Line

Amanda Taub Veazie Acquisition Fund

Reference Number

2016.125

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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