Gwendolyn Brooks

A black and white photograph of poet Gwendolyn Brooks, taken by Brian Lanker for his “I Dream a World” series in 1987-88. Brooks is a mature dark-skinned woman with close-cropped grey hair. She is shown from the chin up, head tilted to the left, eyes partially closed behind glasses with black circular frames and thick lenses that reflect an unknown light source. Her slight smile reveals only the top row of her teeth, as if she is listening to a song she loves.