. >> brown: inspired by the work of dorothea lange, walker evans, and other depression-era photographerhe in magazines, parks first picked up a camera at the age of 25.in t. paul and then chicago, he took portraits, including marva trotter louis, a performer, model and wife of stxer joe louis. and he did his fournalism, he befriended and photographed letsing african american art and scholars, including langston hughes, charles white, alain locke. and he did covering eleanor roosevelt's visit to a southside community center. parks called the camera eas "choice ofns." >> gordon parks always had a sense that media, that the camera and photography a g and media, could be, y know, a very important tool in rilping the world understand the image of african an people. and it was through that understanding that youould make the world a better place. >> brown: in 1942, parks was awardea prestigious fellowship, allowing him to work as a photographer for the farm security administration. his first assignment: documenting african american life in washington, d.c., then a deeply segregated city. among