Trent Parke Trent Parke, the first Australian to become a Full Member of the renowned photographers' cooperative Magnum Photo Agency, is considered one of the most innovative and challenging photographers of his generation. Moving beyond traditional documentary photography, Parke’s work sits between between fantasy and reality. Using harsh light and shadows to find beauty in the banal, his images offer an emotional and psychological portrait of Australia that is poetic, dramatic and often darkly humorous. Whilst working as a press photojournalist during the first years of his career, Parke received numerous awards, including five Gold Lenses from the International Olympic Committee, and World Press Photo Awards in 1999, 2000 and 2005. In 2003 he was awarded the prestigious W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography for his series Minutes to Midnight. In 2013, revered publisher Steidl is releasing two hardback publications of Parke’s work, Minutes to Midnight and The Christmas Tree Bucket. His self-published book, Dream/Life, was awarded second place in the 2000 American Picture of the Year Award for Photography Books. Parke’s work has featured in exhibitions and art fairs across the globe and is held in major institutional collections, including the NGA, MCA, NGV, AGNSW, Artbank, Magnum London and Magnum Paris. What I like about Parke's work most is his use of dark and light tones. By increasing the contrast and captuiring shadow broken with sunlight he manages to produce a harsh atmosphere which is both in treasuring and mesmerising. He chooses unnerving viewpoints and subject matter which in other light conditions would not be at all as interesting. I admire his technique which utilises film photography as a posed to digital yet manages to produce very high quality still images which require a superior understanding of technique as his images are not reviewed until he is back in his studio.

YOUR WORK In these two pictures I have tried to incorporate some of the techniques and approaches that Parke does in his worm. The first image was taken at the Royal Festival hall in London. It was perfect lighting conditions to take advantage of high contrast light and shadows created by the mid afternoon spring sun. I wanted to create a dramatic and dynamic shape within the photograph as well as bring some storyline with the two unconnected figures. The texture within the image was also a priority and I believe it manages to do fulfil my desire to show the impact of shadow and contrast. Compositionally I think it could be improved as the figures are perhaps a little too central. The second image was taken in the central square early evening and as the sun was beginning to decend behind the buildings. What I particularly like about this image is the dramatic lines created by the shadows which are formed by the more central sun light source. The dramatic lines lead the eye into the picture. Again the texture of the paving and the high contrast of the light and dark areas help provide the atmosphere and drama. The people dashing about their business and the elongated shapes of the pigeons all add interest. I had several shots of the square and the although the shot originally in colour I prefer the black and white high contrast effects.

YOUR WORK This image was taken in Leeds city centre and I spent about half an hour experimenting with slower shutter speeds to try and encapsulate Parke's technique for what looks like a double exposure. The slow shutter speed, 1/30 of a second ensured parts of the moving bus were blurred, creating a visual interest, whilst it was quick enough to freeze the women standing on the street viewed through the moving bus window. I did not use a tripod but did hold the camera very steady so as not to blur all areas of the image. I also used continious shoot mode so I could just hold my finger in the shutter release and capture 5-10 shots of the same image but allowing for a greater choice of images to choose from. Again I have added contrast and a little grain to enhance the image. Out of about 12O images I managed to get about 5 good shots.