PORTFOLIO > Retraced Steps: Inspired by Gordon Parks

In 1950 Gordon Parks returned to his hometown of Fort Scott, Kansas to photograph his junior high school classmates. I grew up in white suburbia. There was only one other Asian in my school. I had a Japanese American friend in boy scouts, but he attended the other high school in town. Gordon Parks' photos gave me the idea to make photographs of my classmates i nnthe same pose as their yearbook photo. When I asked the organizers of my reunion if I could take pictures of people they resisted until I told them I would take the group photo. I ended up taking photos of about 50 people. They turned out as I had hoped.