Olivia Parker
Personal Background
Olivia Parker was born in Boston in 1941. She graduated from Wellesley College in 1963 with a degree in Art History. After graduating, she went on to be a painter, and in 1971 she began doing photography. Parker focused on taking photographs of natural objects, of stuff that she found outside such as shells, feathers, fruits and vegetables. Her work can be found at The Art Institute of Chicago, The Museum of Modern art in New York, and The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, her home city.
Style
Olivia Parker's work can be described as very elegant. Her still life images are inspired by the history of science. She captures the natural world in a very simple yet stylish way. Some of Parker’s work is also inspired by the 17th century Dutch and Flemish masters. Her photography is very alluring and poetic in its simple composure.
Philosophy
Parker used her work to challenge people to look a little deeper. Her photography is simple yet complex. At first glance it can appear very simple and basic, but after looking at it for longer you realize it is actually quite complex. “ My images contain the formal shell of the expected, but have elements of the unexpected,” Parker said. Her work is sometimes described as playful, in the way she portrays things.
Influences
Olivia used Tribal Books to influence her photography, which were completely visual because no one could read them. These books were written in tribal languages, but included images that Parker found very inspirational. I am inspired by her because she makes you look twice. You can not just glance at her work for a second, you have to look deeper. Parker's work is so simple yet so complicated, which I find fascinating.
Compare and Contrast
Personal Background
Olivia Parker was born in Boston in 1941. She graduated from Wellesley College in 1963 with a degree in Art History. After graduating, she went on to be a painter, and in 1971 she began doing photography. Parker focused on taking photographs of natural objects, of stuff that she found outside such as shells, feathers, fruits and vegetables. Her work can be found at The Art Institute of Chicago, The Museum of Modern art in New York, and The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, her home city.
Style
Olivia Parker's work can be described as very elegant. Her still life images are inspired by the history of science. She captures the natural world in a very simple yet stylish way. Some of Parker’s work is also inspired by the 17th century Dutch and Flemish masters. Her photography is very alluring and poetic in its simple composure.
Philosophy
Parker used her work to challenge people to look a little deeper. Her photography is simple yet complex. At first glance it can appear very simple and basic, but after looking at it for longer you realize it is actually quite complex. “ My images contain the formal shell of the expected, but have elements of the unexpected,” Parker said. Her work is sometimes described as playful, in the way she portrays things.
Influences
Olivia used Tribal Books to influence her photography, which were completely visual because no one could read them. These books were written in tribal languages, but included images that Parker found very inspirational. I am inspired by her because she makes you look twice. You can not just glance at her work for a second, you have to look deeper. Parker's work is so simple yet so complicated, which I find fascinating.
Compare and Contrast
For these images I tried to find shells that looked similar to the ones Parker used. I set them up on a black background and started taking pictures. I had to edit the background using the Paint Bucket tool in Photoshop to make the background a darker black. I think that my image is pretty similar to Parker's with the exception that her shells look a bit different.
This image was probably the hardest to recreate. I had to tie a string around the radishes, and then hang them up from a hook. I did not even use a black back drop for this image because I figured it would be easier to just edit the background in Photo Shop. I think that considering the difficulty of this image mine turned out quite well, and looks pretty similar to Parker's.
For this image I could not find an artichoke that looked like the one Parker used, so I decided to worry more about the angle and positioning of this picture and less about how the artichoke looked.I edited the background using the Pain Bucket in Photo Shop to achieve the black background. I think that the angle and positioning of my image matches that of Parker's.
Artist Statement
I really loved taking these images. I enjoyed trying to get my image to look like hers, and I think it really improved my editing skills, especially with using the Paint Bucket. All of these images are very simple yet bold. The first image of the shells reminds me of the ocean, which I love. The second image feels very whole because of the whole bunch of radishes. I also love this image because of the contrast between the red, green and black. The third image reminds me of summer because when I think about Artichokes I think about summer. These images were challenging and very fun to take.