Synopses & Reviews
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In 1934, the year Calvin Littlejohn came to Fort Worth, the city was a sleepy little burg. This was the Jim Crow era, when mainstream newspapers wouldnandrsquo;t publish pictures of black citizens and white photographers wouldnandrsquo;t take pictures in black schools.
In Fort Worth, Littlejohn began what would become a lifelong career of documenting the black community. And there would be nothing remotely related to the white cultureandrsquo;s depictions of Amos andlsquo;nandrsquo; Andy or black kids grinning over a slice of watermelon in Littlejohnandrsquo;s portrayal of his adopted home and the people he came to appreciate and love. Littlejohnandrsquo;s natural aptitude for drawing had been honed by correspondence courses in graphic design and a stint in a photo shop where he learned about the camera, lighting, and the use of shadows.
When Littlejohn was assigned to be the official photographer at I. M. Terrellandmdash;the cityandrsquo;s only black high school at the timeandmdash;his professional career was launched.
Unlike many segregated cities, where blacks lived only in one section, blacks in Cowtown lived in every quadrant of the city. There was a thriving black business district, with hotels, restaurants, a movie theater, a bank, and a major hospital, pharmacy, and nursing school. And of course, there were the schools and churches. All would eventually be seen through Littlejohnandrsquo;s lens.
Although he never set out to be the documentarian of Fort Worthandrsquo;s black community, he did what he set out to do: to capture the best of a community, focusing on its good times.
This book features more than 150 shots Littlejohn captured over the course of his career.
Review
andquot;Iandrsquo;m gonna show the best side of these people thatandrsquo;s being rejected so. And that was my mission. Thatandrsquo;s why Istayed with it, trying to learn something about it.andquot;