1948 was a watershed year in the career of American photographer Gordon Parks. An established fashion photographer who had been working on assignment for LIFE magazine, Parks was also an accomplished author, publishing his second book, Camera Portraits, a collection of his work accompanied by professional observations about posing, lighting, and printing. At the same, time, Parks longed for something deeper and more essential to his soul.

Throughout his illustrious career, photographer Gordon Parks would don many hats that would take him all around the world. From photographer to director, writer to author, songwriter to composer, Parks established himself as a Renaissance man of the 20th century. But it would be the pull of nostalgia and the need to retrace childhood memories that would bring Parks back to his home town of Fort Scott, Kan., 24 years after he left.