Journal — Tristan Parker Photography

On being a photographer

I read something that resonated with me recently and I wanted to both share it with anyone that would like to read it, as well as discuss my thoughts on why these couple of paragraphs weighed on my mind for a while. I think that this process of writing some text might help me take the words apart and analyse them for myself, so here we go. This is the short statement that I found on a site that I have been spending a lot of time on recently. I have stated already that an addiction to Japanese photo books is on the way, the site sells a lot of great titles. But this statement was on their main section: "To me, the recent use of the term street photographer is similar to calling oneself artist or art photographer with an intention to add artificial value. I don’t think any respectable practitioner worth their salt would proclaim themselves with this title in this day and age. Nonetheless it appears that it is often banded around, especially on the social interwebs, with an intention to gain credibility or cool the same way teenagers would display branded clothes or gear to gain attention from peers or lowly outsiders.

My plans for 2014

I have already posted about the fact that I am going to spend 2014 with one lens and one camera, but I thought that I would also make some public outlandish statements that I will hopefully hold myself to for the upcoming 12 months. Some of these will be photography related, others will not. Dont expect this to be a massively read blog post. Its more one of those things that I am putting out there for myself more than anything. So here we go....

One Camera and lens for 2014: My thoughts

The other day I posted on Facebook that I was thinking of going to one camera and one lens for 2014. It was interesting as I got a few replies from people saying that they were thinking of doing the same thing, or had done in the past. I knew it was a popular learning tool, but it was just intriguing for me that as we come to the close of a year, people are having similar thoughts to me for a photo related new years resolution. I thought this would be a good time to post something outlining my thoughts on what it is that I am hoping to get from this, and maybe some assumptions about what I think may drive others to pursue such a project. I dont know if project is the right term for this decision for me. I dont think that my decision to use only one camera and lens for 12 months has anything to do with the subject matter of the images that I will be making, but this may be a statement that I come to be totally off base with this time next year.

The grain of my existence

This is going to be a really quick post about something that literally just crossed my mind. Its all about the grain. Its a little about the digital vs film debate for me. And its a lot about the fact that I just sat at my desk, had a fleeting thought, and decided that I felt like writing about it. Grain is such an interesting thing, and to be honest, the two images that I am going to use to make this point do so in a manner than is just a little oxymoronic (is that even a word?). The reason for the last statement is that I am going to give a bit of a shout out to film grain, and how nice I think that it looks in images at the moment, but I am going to use two recent images that are both scans from negatives. There is probably a post in there somewhere about the whole digitising film thing and what that gives us as far as a hybrid film/digital image goes. Would love to hear peoples thoughts on that actually... Comment away.

Film Photography, PhotographyTristan ParkerDecember 4, 2013Film Photography, PhotographyComment

What is a camera?

We all fall prey of the camera and the strange yet powerful hold that it has on us. Whats this about? Its a lust, its one of the sins in the history of many religions... Dont get me wrong, Im not religious. I just know from experience that this is what drives the obsession with the camera. Its also what drives modern society to want better cars, bigger houses, better whats its, and so on. If its not lust then its greed, I dont know if one is better than the other, but I am going to say lust... I know this as its something that I need to fight to control myself as well. The answer to the question is quite simple really. The camera is a tool. The camera is the same sort of tool as a painters brush, a sculptors clay, and a woodworkers saws. It is however one that has been much abused by society, and has hence lost some of its bygone allure and mystery.

Digging out of creative ruts through writing

I have been in a bit of an artistic rut lately. I dont know the pin point reason for this, and I guess I dont even know if there is a single reason, or if there are few things that have come together to result in the lull in productivity. Since I started to get back into making images with a camera about 12 months ago now, I havent had this happen yet, so its causing me a little stress. When I remove myself from the situation and sit back and try to be objective about the scenario I am not overly concerned. I know deep down that I will come back again. But its sometimes hard to be removed and objective, so I thought that I would write about it in the hope that maybe penning these thoughts would act as the conduit that I needed to return to some form of productivity.

My Photographic Inspiration - Mum

I have written in the past about my Dad and the inspiration that he had on me as a photographer (I still feel like a bit of a fraud when I call myself that by the way). Well the article caused a bit of a stir... Mainly in the form of my Mum saying, in the words of Shannon Knowls, 'What about me?'. Well this ones for you Mum...

My Mum is a bit of a strange story really... I guess we all are in our own ways, but its likely that you will find this story a little stranger than most. I will try and give you a little overview. I think for the purpose of the story its going to be a little easier to start from the end for a minute, and then run through how we got there, at least the how that I know about anyway...

The great genre debate: The influence others have on Street Photography

This was a topic that I started to write in Thailand, but my broken tablet screen put a halt to the blog productivity. This was actually a real shame, as while it was raining there (it rained a lot) I was really enjoying just sitting on the balcony of the villa we were in and writing. I found it relaxing, and quite honestly I couldnt have thought of a nicer way to spend some time while away on a break.