Gordon Parks Went to Rio to Save a Boy’s Life
Sebastian Smee, The Washington Post
October 2019
Five months after the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy, Gordon Parks, the famous photographer for Life magazine, found himself on a plane to Rio de Janeiro. As he cruised along at 30,000 feet, an immense thought pressed in: I am about to save a boy’s life. His name was Flavio da Silva, and he lived in a favela called Catacumba on the steep hillsides of Rio. Days earlier, the boy had written: “This is a dream, and I shall end by awakening.” But it wasn’t. It wasn’t a dream. It was his life. […]