American still life photographer Olivia Parker has developed a reputation worldwide for taking breath-taking images which capture the imagination and challenge common perceptions.
Self-starter
Olivia Parker was born in 1941 in Boston, Massachusetts in the US. Parker attended the prestigious Wellesley College, graduating with a degree in Art History in 1963, before going on to establish a career as a painter. But Parker’s life was turned upside down in 1970; this was the year that she discovered and become fascinated by photography.
Parker was the ultimate self-starter. According to her official website, Parker mostly taught herself the mechanics and processes behind photography. Over the ensuing decades, the Bostonian creative has thrived as a photographer, building up a stellar career which has seen her work exhibited in artistic spaces and noted publications across the planet.
Endless artistic possibilities
Olivia Parker’s work very much lies in the still life genre. Most notably, she has produced a variety of stunning photographs depicting shells. However, other subjects of her images include flowers, insects and fruit, among other things. Vintage Works writes that the majority of Parker’s images are inspired by traditional Dutch, Flemish and Spanish 17th Century painters, whose trademark torn petals, sumptuous but imperfect fruit and improbable insects clearly influence her work.
As the ultimate self-starter, Parker usually constructs what she plans to photograph in her studio. Profiling Parker, the California-based Joseph Bellows Gallery points out that she “makes beautiful constructions of objects to be photographed using formats ranging from 35mm to Polaroid” and she has also embraced digital formats. Parker’s official website notes that she “makes ephemeral constructions to photograph and experiments with the endless possibilities of light.”
Parker openly admits that she is fascinated by light, experimenting with it throughout her work. This led her to photography, as in her own words, this “is the only medium that demands light and natural light is always changing, transforming whatever is before our eyes.” By experimenting with light, Parker produces visceral stills which constantly ask onlookers to constantly reassess their meanings, as they are constructed in a such a way that the eye never knows were to rest.
Heralded photographic genius
By adopting this unique approach to photography, Parker has become a celebrated still life photographer around the world. She has hosted over 100 one-person shows in the US and internationally and her stills are represented in several corporate, private and museum collections. Famous artistic spaces which have exhibited Parker’s work include Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, New York’s Museum of Modern Art and Chicago’s illustrious Art Institute.
Portfolios of Parker’s work have been published in a range of creative publications. Magazines which have featured Olivia Parker include American Photographer, Art News and Camera Arts, along with various publications in the US, Japan and Europe. Throughout her career, Parker has also released three monographs of her work. These were 1978’s Signs of Life (Godline), 1983’s Under the Looking Glass (New York Graphic Society) and 1987’s Weighing the Planets (New York Graphic Society).
Pushing the boundaries
Since discovering the medium in 1970, Olivia Parker has established herself as an incredibly talented still life photographer. By endlessly experimenting with light and drawing inspiration from 17th Century Master Painters, Olivia produces pictures which always push the boundaries, forcing viewers to constantly reassess how they see the world around them.
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