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Posts Tagged ‘Robert and Shana Parkeharrison’

The Architect’s Brother, Another Look

Posted in Favorite Things, Photography, tagged , on December 14, 2017| Leave a Comment »

I pulled a book from the shelf the other day that I hadn’t looked at in some time. It’s a gorgeous book with incredible images and thought provoking allegories. Going through the images was like looking at it for the first time. I thought I’d share a blog entry I wrote about the couple who produce these fabulous photos. I’ve added a few more images to go along with the slideshow. Take a look.

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I wrote a week or two ago, after seeing the film Hugo, about the work of early film pioneer George Melies and how wildly inventive it was at the advent of modern cinema.  Melies built elaborate sets and magical illusions to create images that were like scenes torn from a dream.

The same might be said for the work of Robert and Shana Parkeharrison, contemporary photographers who create magnificent allegorical landscapes on elaborate painted sets then photograph them.

Old school.

There is no computer generation here.  In their best known series which is captured in a book of the same title from 2000, The Architect’s Brother, they create a monochromatic, sepia tinged world that is both filled with foreboding  and trepidation as well as sheer beauty.  Each image is poetic and thought provoking on some level.

And powerful.

I’m sure I’m not giving as much detail about this couple and their work as you may desire.  I just wanted to pass along their imagery and let you do what you may with that.  Besides, if I write much more, that means I have less time for exploring these photos further.

Here’s a slideshow of the images from the Parkeharrisons’ book, The Architect’s Brother.

[You can visit their website by going to parkeharrison.com.]

 

Shana and Robert ParkeHarrison- Edison’s Light

Shana and Robert ParkeHarrison- Suspension

Shana and Robert ParkeHarrison- The Sower

Shana and Robert ParkeHarrison- Kingdom

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Teun Hocks’ Everyman

Posted in Favorite Things, Painting, Photography, Video, tagged , , , , , on September 11, 2013| 3 Comments »

Teun Hocks PrairieI came across these photos by Dutch artist Teun Hocks  (b. 1947) which reminded me very much of the work of Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison, which I have featured here twice before.  Actually, it was on this same day last year that I last featured them– perhaps I am looking for an alternate reality on this date as opposed to trying to relive in some way that morning twelve years ago.  The ParkeHarrisons create elaborate but real backdrops against which they photograph their Everyman in allegorical scenes– there is no digital manipulation.  It is more like the worlds created in the earliest days of cinema when what was seen had to made real in some way, even the most fantastic scenes.

Teun Hooks Untitled- Man on IceTeun Hocks works in very much the same vein except that he creates a painted backdrop against which he photographs himself as the sometimes comical but deadpan Everyman.   Think Buster Keaton here.  He then creates oversize  gelatin silver prints on which he paints in oils, treating his original photo as an underpainting.  The result is a beautiful image with a painterly feel that is  imbued with both humor and pathos.  You can’t but help feel some sort of connection with Hooks’ character as he faces a sometimes puzzling reality.  Don’t we all?

I’m showing just a handful of the work of this prolific artist here as well as a YouTube video showing a larger group.  Hope you’ll enjoy this on this day.

Teun Hocks

Teun Hocks Baggage

Teun Hocks Untitled-Man Sleeping with Weight

Teun Hocks Crossroads

Teun Hocks Music

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The ParkeHarrisons’ Reality

Posted in Favorite Things, Photography, tagged , on September 11, 2012| 5 Comments »

I wrote  here last year about my admiration for the photography of Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison contained in their beautiful book,  The Architect’s Brother.  They are spectacular and moody allegorical images that really captivate the imagination.  What I particularly liked is that they are true photographs– no computer manipulation.  Everything you see is really in their viewfinder.  They create their visions as an old  film producer might have, with elaborate sets  consisting of detailed painted backdrops and theatrical props.  I think that staying away from computer generated effects gives their work a fuller sense of reality and possibility.  Maybe it’s that sense of rightness I often mention on this blog.

Whatever the case, it’s powerful work.  Here’s a neat video I came across that features a very wide cross-section of  the ParkeHarrisons’ work, including works in full color rather than the sepia tones that mark that work in The Architect’s Brother.  These striking images are set to music from Canadian indie band, The Bresnard Lakes.

 

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The Photoallegory of Sarolta Ban

Posted in Favorite Things, Neat Stuff, Photography, tagged , , , , , on May 2, 2012| Leave a Comment »

I came across some very interesting allegorical  photos  on the PhotoBotos.com site.  They are the work of a young  photographer from Budapest, Hungary by the name of Sarolta Ban, who digitally manipulates images of basically everyday items into thought-provoking scenes.  Her work reminds me very much, in tone and substance, to that of  Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison, who created the fantastic photos of the book The Architect’s Brother, which I featured here on the blog this past year. 

 The primary difference is that the ParkeHarrison work is not digitally manipulated.  They instead physically create the scenes and photograph them.  For some, especially photography purists, this is an important distinction.  But I am definitely willing to look past that and simply admire Ban’s beautiful work.  For me, it comes down to how her imagery affects me and makes me react.  And for me, her work has a dreamlike quality, filled with a quiet magic.  Peaceful but ponderous.  Just good stuff.

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The Architect’s Brother

Posted in Influences, Neat Stuff, Video, tagged , , on December 23, 2011| 7 Comments »

I wrote a week or two ago, after seeing the film Hugo, about the work of George Melies and how wildly inventive it was at the advent of modern cinema.  He used built sets and illusion to create  images that were like scenes torn from a dream. 

The same might be said for the work of Robert and Shana Parkeharrison, contemporary photographers who create magnificent metaphorical landscapes on elaborate painted sets then photograph them.  Old school.  There is no computer generation here.  In their best known series which is captured in a book of the same title from 2000, The Architect’s Brother, they create a monochromatic, sepia tinged world that is both filled with foreboding  and trepidation as well as sheer beauty.  Each image is poetic and thought provoking on some level. 

And powerful.

I’m sure I’m not giving as much detail about this couple and their work as you may desire.  I just wanted to pass along their imagery and let you do what you may with that.  Besides, if I write much more, that means I have less time for exploring these photos further.

Here’s a slideshow of the images from the Parkeharrisons’ book, The Architect’s Brother.


 

Edison's Light

 

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