Kenneth Parker
Kenneth Parker is a large-format landscape colorist working principally in remote pristine wilderness areas throughout the world where he has trekked and kayaked extensively. He is inexorably drawn to the elemental earth/ocean forces and their compelling magic, translating into arresting imagery the depths of these feelings,

rich in power, radiant. His early experience as fine art color pioneer Eliot Porter’s field assistant helped to nurture a loving eye devoted to isolating and capturing the mysteries in nature that he struggled for decades to unravel as a research scientist in oceanography and global climate change. Paul Caponigro has also been a principal influence on his development as a consistent mentor to Parker since the mid-70s.

Most of Parker’s photographs are captured over the course of 5-10 day backpacking excursions hauling 75-85 pounds of large-format camera equipment as he becomes immersed in a profound sense of place. Often several days are spent contemplating the changing light and intimacy of a composition before completing a single exposure. Typically only one or two distinctive images will result from one of these journeys.

Over the past three decades, Parker has produced a body of work in several formats that has been widely exhibited and published. While a great deal of that time was occupied with his natural science career, he consistently maintained and exercised the creative passions that have now fully committed his life focus to photography.

"The state of our world today is so fraught with the agonizing inequalities born of blind greed and development frenzy that the more sensitive perceivers among us often feel helpless as precious natural wildness is being run over roughshod. I strive in my photographs to stir in the viewer the magnificence of the taken-for-granted natural becoming the everyday sacred.

"When my mind’s eye is open, just as when my feelings find their words, I begin to hear the music. Great patience is often required in order that I might capture such scintillating resonance, which shimmers with an intimate sense of place. A favorite image is one that can make you feel as if immersed in it, truly wanting to Be inside its special world… and finally to inhabit it."

Paul Caponigro writes: Parker’s stunning prints have impressed me and will no doubt also impress you for their beauty of craft as well as content. Those who will give sufficient time to discover what has been wrought through his efforts will no doubt be rewarded. He has met and mastered the shape of his own passion and vision.

Fuji Crystal Archive chromogenic prints represent the most permanent, silver-based, color photographic emulsion paper available today, providing a 150-year life expectancy without fading. The combination of resolution, color quality/accuracy, and archival longevity ensure the very highest level of quality for collectors. In addition, all prints are guaranteed for life against any fading or discoloration, and would be otherwise replaced by the artist upon request. They are in limited editions.

Printing is carefully executed by the artist on the scanned files using state-of-the-art controls as in any traditional color darkroom that correct for color balance, contrast, burning and dodging without alteration or manipulation of the original image — the integrity of which is maintained true to the light and color captured during exposure. Parker maintains a strong philosophical commitment to this approach.

Beauty is an experience

Nothing else
It is not a fixed pattern or an
Arrangement of features

It is something felt
A glow on a communicated sense of
Fineness

What ails us is that our sense
Of Beauty is so bruised and
Blunted that we miss all the

Best

— D.H. Lawrence