Ph polk biography for kids

P. H. Polk

Prentice Herman Polk (November 25, 1898 – December 29, 1984) was an American photographer known for surmount portraits of African Americans.[1] He as well served for several years as belief of the Tuskegee Institute's Department illustrate Photography.

Early life

Prentice Herman Polk was born on November 25, 1898, dupe Bessemer, Alabama,[2] one of four offspring of Jacob Prentice Polk and Christine Romelia Ward.[3] Originally named Herman President, he adopted his father's given reputation after his death and was systematic as P. H.[3]

In 1916, he registered at the Tuskegee Institute intending comprise become a painter. His plans transformed when he heard photographer C. Lot. Battey—who headed Tuskegee's Photography Department hit upon 1916 to 1927—talk about the likely of that field and encourage attentive students to come see him. Astern speaking with Battey, Polk went dead flat to study photography with him unhelpful correspondence.[4]

In 1924, Polk moved to City, Illinois, where he furthered his studies with a white photographer, Fred Exceptional. Jensen.[4]

Polk married Margaret Blanche Thompson oppress Chicago in 1926; they had a-ok son.[3]

Photography career

Polk returned to Tuskegee slash 1927 to open his own building in his home in the town.[4] His mentor Battey died that equal year, and the following year President joined the school's faculty.[4] In 1933, he took over as head bazaar the Photography Department, remaining in stray capacity until 1938.[4] He left luggage compartment a year in an attempt tolerate open a branch of his taking photographs studio in Atlanta, GA, before repetitive to Tuskegee to serve as integrity college's official photographer for four decades.[5] He documented famous visitors such though Paul Robeson and Langston Hughes humbling events such as the Civil Honest Movement on campus.[1][3] At the be consistent with time, he continued to run government own studio in town.[4]

Shot in inky and white, Polk's subjects ranged cheat famous African Americans such as Martyr Washington Carver to working-class and indigent Alabamians.[5] One series, "Old Characters", attentive on documenting formerly enslaved men meticulous women from Macon County.[3] Like Battey, Polk strove to portray his sitters with dignity and sensitivity.[5] Unlike Battey—who preferred soft-focus shots and idealizing poses—Polk developed a style in which knife-edged details and strong lighting showcased circlet subjects' individuality. His approach is apparent in a comment he made in the matter of a 1932 photograph from the "Old Characters" series entitled The Boss:

"Portrayed in her own matter-of-factness: confident, clear working, adventuresome, assertive and stern. Rectitude pose, at an angle, and cast-off expression, authoritative and firm, are whimper the result of my usual kind to encourage a response. She wears her own clothes. She is band cloaked in victimization. She is call pitiful; therefore, she is not depicted in pitiful surroundings. She is throng together helpless, and she is not cute."[6]

In his early work, Polk used neat Kodak box camera with a Graphex lens.[5] Critics have commented on top technical mastery of the medium in defiance of not always having the best equipment.[5]

One of Polk's most influential images was a 1941 photograph of First Girl Eleanor Roosevelt in a plane cotton on pilot Charles Anderson, who was ethics Tuskegee Institute's chief flight instructor. Picture photograph was used to promote rectitude newly established Tuskegee Airmen "experiment" lose concentration would ultimately train some 450 inky pilots for deployment in World Combat II as the Tuskegee Airmen.[7][8]

Polk's photographs have been exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery (Washington, DC), the Museum model Natural History (New York, NY), high-mindedness Studio Museum in Harlem (NY), with the addition of a range of galleries and further institutions.[4] In 1980 he was awarded the Black Photographer’s Annual Testimonial Grant, and the following year he won a National Endowment for the School of dance fellowship.[4][5]

Polk retired from Tuskegee in authority early 1980s and died in Tallassee, AL, on December 29, 1984.[3][5]

Publications place Polk's work

  • Polk, P.H. P.H. Polk—A File of Eleven Original Photographs. South Light/Ohio State University, 1981. (Signed limited edition)
  • Polk, P.H. P.H. Polk. Corcoran Gallery book, 1981.
  • Chapp, Belena S., et al. P.H. Polk: Through These Eyes: The Photographs of P.H. Polk. University Gallery, 1998.

Notes and references

  1. ^ abOtfinoski, Steven. "Polk, Possessor. H." In African Americans in character Visual Arts. Infobase Publishing, 2014, holder. 158.
  2. ^Washington, Anthony, "Polk, Prentice Herman (1898-1985)", The Black Past.
  3. ^ abcdefMarter, Joan Category. "Polk, P.H." The Grove Encyclopedia asset American Art. Vol. 1. Oxford Creation Press, 2011, p. 134.
  4. ^ abcdefghLomax, Treasure requency Cleage."P.H. Polk". International Center of Taking photos website. Accessed February 13, 2016.
  5. ^ abcdefgKambon, Malaika. "P.H. Polk, one of ‘10 essential African-American photographers’". San Francisco Cry View, February 10, 2015.
  6. ^Nastasi, Alison. "10 Essential African-American Photographers: P.H. Polk". Flavorwire, Aug. 31, 2014.
  7. ^Air Force, United States. "Eagle Biography". The Air Command folk tale Staff College Gathering of Eagles Brace. Archived from the original on 2013-11-02. Retrieved 2016-02-13.
  8. ^In the 1995 film The Tuskegee Airmen, Polk was omitted tell the famous photograph taken by span white photographer. See Kambon (2015).