David Parker: The Phenomenal World

Rating:
Summary: Similar to the photographic work of Lynn Davis.
Review: The original photographs are large, about 12 feet long and five feet high, as seen in the Koch Gallery in San Francisco. The images feature natural arches, sea arches at an undisclosed location and land arches, obviously in Utah. The photos are black and white. The contast level is moderate or soft, unlike the hard contrast found in the prints of Bruce Barnbaum or A.Adams. It is doubtful if use of a higher contrast paper would have increased the impact of the photos, the photos satisfying as they are. The photographer's goal is not to immerse the viewer in textures and detail, as is the case for Barnbaum and A.Adams, but to provide a large, sculptural shape. Humans are found in many of Parker's landscape images. Humans are also used in landscapes by Roger Minnick and Mark Klett, and here the people are seen as people, and the artist's goal is to use people as a counterpoint, to provide a subtle jab of humor. In contrast, David Parker's people are meant to be part of the natural landscape, the people are like the lava trees found on the flanks of Mt. Kilauea, the people also serve as a yardstick to provide a sense of scale to the large arches. Perhaps, David Parker's people are androids. Mr. Parker's most exciting photograph, which features an arch extending from the land into the ocean, with a man standing on the flank of the arch that is inserted into the sea, does not appear in the book. Too bad. Mr. Parker's photographs are similar to those of Lynn Davis, as seen at the John Berggruen Gallery in San Francisco. Lynn Davis' photographs are about 8 feet by 8 feet square. Lynn Davis' original prints are subdued and of grade one or grade two contrast. The reproductions in Lynn Davis' book Monuments are also of low contrast. A higher contrast would have made the photographs much more appealing. Lynn Davis has been doing icebergs for a long, long time. I notice that one of her iceberg photos, a color print from 1986, appears in the catalogue "The Indomitable Spirit" published by Friends United Against AIDS. What is missing from her book Monuments is her most interesting recent landscape print, which can be seen on the card from the November 2001 exhibition at the John Berggruen Gallery. The print on the card is of a dramatic grade 3 contrast. This exciting print features an iceberg in the top left quadrant, with a dramatic inverted arch on the top surface of the ice, a nice reflection of the iceberg in the water appearing between the berg and the viewer, a thin horizon line consisting of a distant ice cliff, and in the sky, an archlike shape in the gentle cloudcover that roughly duplicates (or continues) the arch "scooped out" from the top of the berg. How excited the photographer must have been when she made the exposure. Too bad this print isn't in Monuments.

Rating:
Summary: Similar to the photographic work of Lynn Davis.
Review: The original photographs are large, about 12 feet long and five feet high, as seen in the Koch Gallery in San Francisco. The images feature natural arches, sea arches at an undisclosed location and land arches, obviously in Utah. The photos are black and white. The contast level is moderate or soft, unlike the hard contrast found in the prints of Bruce Barnbaum or A.Adams. It is doubtful if use of a higher contrast paper would have increased the impact of the photos, the photos satisfying as they are. The photographer's goal is not to immerse the viewer in textures and detail, as is the case for Barnbaum and A.Adams, but to provide a large, sculptural shape. Humans are found in many of Parker's landscape images. Humans are also used in landscapes by Roger Minnick and Mark Klett, and here the people are seen as people, and the artist's goal is to use people as a counterpoint, to provide a subtle jab of humor. In contrast, David Parker's people are meant to be part of the natural landscape, the people are like the lava trees found on the flanks of Mt. Kilauea, the people also serve as a yardstick to provide a sense of scale to the large arches. Perhaps, David Parker's people are androids. Mr. Parker's most exciting photograph, which features an arch extending from the land into the ocean, with a man standing on the flank of the arch that is inserted into the sea, does not appear in the book. Too bad. Mr. Parker's photographs are similar to those of Lynn Davis, as seen at the John Berggruen Gallery in San Francisco. Lynn Davis' photographs are about 8 feet by 8 feet square. Lynn Davis' original prints are subdued and of grade one or grade two contrast. The reproductions in Lynn Davis' book Monuments are also of low contrast. A higher contrast would have made the photographs much more appealing. Lynn Davis has been doing icebergs for a long, long time. I notice that one of her iceberg photos, a color print from 1986, appears in the catalogue "The Indomitable Spirit" published by Friends United Against AIDS. What is missing from her book Monuments is her most interesting recent landscape print, which can be seen on the card from the November 2001 exhibition at the John Berggruen Gallery. The print on the card is of a dramatic grade 3 contrast. This exciting print features an iceberg in the top left quadrant, with a dramatic inverted arch on the top surface of the ice, a nice reflection of the iceberg in the water appearing between the berg and the viewer, a thin horizon line consisting of a distant ice cliff, and in the sky, an archlike shape in the gentle cloudcover that roughly duplicates (or continues) the arch "scooped out" from the top of the berg. How excited the photographer must have been when she made the exposure. Too bad this print isn't in Monuments.