In class, we watched a video on Trente Parke. He described his photography, techniques and philosophies. I have written some paragraphs on my initial thoughts:

Trent has so much motivation and determination. He has got an extremely strong sense of light and visual components. He takes documentary pictures, meaning that he takes pictures daily. He loves the process of making pictures, from taking them, to processing them in the dark room. His passion for photography started when he was 10 years old, after his mother’s passing. Parke wanted to capture special moments in time and keep them forever. He said ” Photography is a discovery of life which makes you look at things you’ve never looked at before.” His photographs contain very sharp strong light. Here are some examples of his work, which are in both color and black and white:

He quoted “I am forever chasing light. Light turns the ordinary into the magical.”

His pure perseverance to get the perfect shot is apparent. Trent once tried shooting the same scene for a period of three months. He saw something in the film that he wanted to recreate and he went back to that place every chance he could. In this occasion it was at a train station. He managed to finally capture the shadows in a magical way. This is the picture that he was referring to:

Concerning the picture above Parke stated the following: “I went each evening, for about 15 minutes, when the light came in between two buildings. It happens only at a certain time of the year: you’ve just got that little window of opportunity. I was relying so much on chance – on the number of people coming out of the offices, on the sun being in the right spot, and on a bus coming along at the right time to get that long, blurred streak of movement. If I didn’t get the picture, then I was back again the next day. I stood there probably three or four times a week for about a month. I used an old Nikon press camera that you could pull the top off and look straight down into, because I was shooting from a tiny tripod that was only about 8cm high. I had tried to lie on the ground, but people wouldn’t stand anywhere near me. I finally got this picture after about three or four attempts. I shot a hundred rolls of film, but once I’d got that image I just couldn’t get anywhere near it again. That’s always a good sign: you know you’ve got something special.”

This really solidifies that he is a very determined man. His pure perseverance and love for photography drives him to try again and again. For me, it’s sort of like ‘trial and error’ where he aims to get a shot that’s very close to perfect.

He originally came from Newcastle and rose to fame, winning many awards. However, Parke’s enthusiasm is driven from his love for photography; he isn’t concerned with winning awards, but catching amazing life moments.

The Australian has a passion for street photography. He first began by travelling to certain places and he’d wait for the exact right moment to shoot. The light would have to be exact and well reflected.

In a particular shot, Parke was able to photograph a very unusual scene:

He saw a black ‘aboriginal’ woman with her ‘albino’ child. He doesn’t usually go up to people and ask for pictures, but Trent felt compelled by this unique opportunity. Just as he was clicking the camera button, the sky began dark and cloudy. He’d regretted wasting that chance, since he thought that the darkened sky had ruined the shot. It wasn’t until ten years later that Parke processed the image and fell in love with it. I think that the strong lighting creates a bold and powerful contrast, which works really well here.

His work is normally presented in grand displays. Here’s one of his exhibitions called ‘Please step quietly everyone can hear you’.

Here are some of his pictures that I discovered online: http://www.stillsgallery.com.au/artists/parke/

Trent Parke’s work is very Contemporary. The  word in itself, originated from Latin of ‘Con’ which translates to ‘with’ and ‘temporarius’ which signifies ‘of the time’. Therefore, Contemporary now equates to the word ‘modern’. Nevertheless, just because the picture is modern doesn’t mean that it can be called this. The photography’s normally described as abstract or unusual. It’s all about recording up-to-date, present-day moments, for instance Urban Development, Terrorism, Pollution, etc.

Web link to post called “12 lessons that Trent Parke has taught me about street photography”: http://erickimphotography.com/blog/2014/02/10/12-lessons-trent-parke-has-taught-me-about-street-photography/