PARKS, Gordon - The Flavio Story

Background information, content

"The photo volume, 'The Flavio Story', explores a once-popular picture story by Gordon PARKS as well as the extraordinary chain of events it prompted. Published in 'Life' magazine in June 1961 as 'Poverty: Freedom’s Fearful Foe,' this empathetic photo-essay profiled the da Silva family, living in a hillside favela near a wealthy enclave of Rio de Janeiro. Focused primarily on the eldest son Flavio, an industrious 12-year-old suffering from crippling asthma, the story elicited more than 3,000 letters and $25,000 in donations from Life readers to help the family and the favela.
In Brazil, the story sparked controversy; a news magazine, O Cruzeiro, retaliated against Life by sending photographer Henri Ballot to document the poverty in New York City. Undeterred, 'Life' embarked on a multi-year 'rescue mission' that saw Flavio transferred to a Denver hospital, the family relocated to a new home, and funds administered to support the favela. Gordon PARKS' story and relationship with Flavio has evolved over many years.
The details of this extraordinary story are a fascinating example of US exceptionalism in the early 1960s and a revealing insight into the power and cultural force of the 'Great American Magazine'." (© Steidl Verlag, 2018)

About US-American photographer, Gordon PARKS (1912-2006)

Photo books by as well as with works by Gordon PARKS