The Giving Photography Society is a donor membership program that is our way of honoring the spirit and impact of Gordon Parks’ work, while recognizing that it inspires our own.

As a social documentarian and Life magazine’s first Black photographer, he was known for his stark portrayal of poverty, race, and America’s civil rights movement.

”I picked up a camera because it was my choice of weapons against what I hated most about the universe: racism, intolerance, poverty.  I could have just as easily picked up a knife or a gun, like many of my childhood friends did… most of whom were murdered or put in prison… but I chose not to go that way. I felt that I could somehow subdue these evils by doing something beautiful that people recognize me by, and thus make a whole different life for myself, which has proved to be so.” – Gordon Parks 

Critical Exposure seeks to provide this same opportunity to Black and Brown DC youth—to train them to use the camera as a weapon in the fight for educational equity and social injustice. The support of Giving Photography Society members have made that opportunity possible for thousands of students.

Become a member 

You can join the Giving Photography Society with an annual gift of $1,000 or a monthly donation of $84. 

Benefits include

• Help build an organizing home for Black and Brown DC youth
• Get exclusive invitations to special events
• Recognition on our website
• Gifted storytelling photography from our youth
• and more

We’d like to thank all of the members of the Giving Photography Society, whose dedication, generosity, and belief in the potential and power of our students makes our work possible.