18/21 Architect's Brother, Photograph, Robert & Shana ParkeHarrison
My photographs tell stories of loss, human struggle, and personal exploration within landscapes scarred by technology and over-use…. [I] strive to metaphorically and poetically link laborious actions, idiosyncratic rituals and strangely crude machines into tales about our modern experience.
--Robert ParkeHarrison
Although the ParkeHarrisons mainly work in photography, they do consider themselves painters, which is evident in this series. There is a fine expressionistic quality in their work that alludes to the artists’ hand. In this series, there are more traditional film and darkroom manipulation techniques such as blurring the lens to create a soft focus effect, or a jolt to the tripod or camera to suggest movement. There is a very fine grain to all of their work, as well as a light vignette that was added during post-processing in a darkroom. It’s also intriguing to consider Shana’s choreography on its own as a form of painting.
17/28 Counterpoint, Photograph, Robert & Shana ParkeHarrison
3/13 Grey Dawn, Photograph, Robert & Shana ParkeHarrison
In more recent series-entitled Gray Dawn and Counterpoint- slightly different subject matter coincides with the same style and connection with nature. A main character (played by Robert) remains. However, these series incorporate aspects of nature with larger, more solid elements such as concrete, glass, and metal. The majority of the images are photographed in stark ambiguous environments with cold, empty atmospheres. Interspersed with those images are pieces that relate back to the ParkeHarrisons’ shooting in, and interacting with, natural environments. However, the atmosphere of the images (although they are much more colorful than images from Architect’s Brother) suggest static and tension.
Their use of light and motion in these series helps to involve the viewer more so by emphasizing and certain aspects of the image so the viewer really has to spend time analyzing the subject matter. Yet, even with all these harsh man-made objects, I find Gray Dawn to be much less industrial than their work in The Architect’s Brother. Perhaps because there is a lack of workmanship in the subject matter, unlike the obviously man-made contraptions created by the main character in Architect’s Brother.
The ParkeHarrisons both have their Masters in Fine Arts from the University of New Mexico. Robert is now an Associate Professor of Studio Art Photography at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester Massachusetts. Their work has been displayed in 18 solo exhibitions and over 30 group exhibitions. Their work is also found in over 20 collections including the National Museum of American Art at the Smithsonian. Their Book, Architect’s Brother, was named one of the “Ten Best Photography Books of the Year” of 2000 by the New York Times.
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