Biographer Arnold Rampersad discusses Harlem Renaissance luminary Langston Hughes and his relationship with a number of photographers who celebrated African-American life and literary tradition. Among them: Gordon Parks, whom Hughes advised on a series of photos based on Hughes’ 1942 poetry collection Shakespeare in Harlem.

The presentation is in conjunction with the photo exhibit Through the Lens: Visions of African American Experience, 1950-1970 at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. On display through April 3, 2016, it features the works of Parks and six other photographers who highlighted various aspects of the African-American experience during the civil rights era.