Todd Parker Photography-  The Creative Work of Todd Parker
Todd Parker Photography-  The Creative Work of Todd Parker
Todd Parker Photography-  The Creative Work of Todd Parker
Todd Parker Photography-  The Creative Work of Todd Parker
Todd Parker Photography-  The Creative Work of Todd Parker

Welcome

This website provides a forum for sharing my creative work. For nearly two decades I’ve pursued the craft of photography. Whether working as a professional or pursuing personal projects, photography has afforded me a fabulous opportunity to explore the world and appreciate its beauty. Please browse the featured galleries and delve into the archives to discover more images and purchase a print. Thanks for your interest and support.

Photo of the Day



Featured Galleries

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Lighthouse, Revisited

It has been some ten years since I first embarked on the Pier Project, an effort to photograph the Grand Haven Lighthouse through the seasons. During late summer of 2010 I was afforded a rare opportunity to revisit the project, documenting this historic structure from the rarely seen interior of the Lighthouses. Without hesitation I jumped at the chance.

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Colorado Scenics- Images of the American West

For me there’s something very special about the Central Rockies of Colorado. Since first visited as a child of eight, this place has become a permanent fixture in my psyche. So its no surprise that I eventually called it home. It is here, during a seven year period in the mid nineties that I honed my photography skills. The resulting images stand out among my all-time favorites.

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Macnas Let’s the Big River Flow

The Big River flowed through the streets of Galway on Sunday the 23rd of July, courtesy of Galway’s famed street theatre company Macnas. The spectacular production was Macnas’ contribution to the the Galway Arts Festival 06 .

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Spirit of Places

Spirit of Places came about as my first retrospective photography show, compiling images of my first seven years as a photographer. This mindful approach to photography requires combining the raw elements of nature, with the elusive element of time, to create an image that resonates emotion and meaning, providing a broader understanding of the place.

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Water’s Edge

This collection of images pays homage to the sea’s many attractions. As a photographer I’m constantly drawn to the sea, with its abundant bounty of compelling imagery. Lighthouses and boats hold particular appeal, as they seem to enjoy a near universal emotional resonance. Enjoy a sampling of my work from a compilation of images I call Water’s Edge, the name inspired by a series of poems on the sea.

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The Pier Project

The Pier Project is a photographic study of place, for which I returned again and again, to the Grand Haven Lighthouse, to photograph it  at various times of day, across the seasons and over the years. The resulting images remain my most requested work, an overview of which is provided in the following slideshow.

Blog

Studs Terkel on Finding Good Stories

Lately I’ve been brushing up on a the fine art of storytelling, a subject about which I know very little. More precisely its radio storytelling I’m exploring, in advance of a audio storytelling workshop I’m hoping to take in a few weeks time.  For anyone whose even googled anything to do with the topic, be it what recorder works best, or what makes for compelling radio, they quickly find themselves on the website,  Transom.org. Transom is a public radio website that empowers aspiring storytellers, providing them with a wealth of information on the craft presented from some of the industry’s top talent. There’s also an extensive library of podcasts, excellent short stories and full length documentaries produced for radio.

Browsing the content I came across the name Studs Terkel. For those who aren’t familiar with Studs work, he can be described  as an American treasure. The author of numerous books, most notably his seminole piece, “Working,” Terkel was an audio historian of the highest order. Known as “Mr Chicago,” his longevity was legendary, having broadcast his daily show for nearly 50 years. Terkel died in 2008 at the tender age of 96, and worked nearly until the end. His life has been celebrated on the Transom site, with numerous stories about and from the legendary broadcaster. I quickly honed in on a reflective piece “Working with Studs, A Transom Radio Special” and immediately found the inspiration I was looking for.

Terkel was always the champion of the common man. And it was the everyday people, not the elites of business and government, whose stories truly mattered in the understanding of our shared history.  In his own words, he urges storytellers to dig deeper to find the good stories.

 ”If I were to ask people who built the pyramids the immediate reaction would be well, the pharaohs did. The pharaohs didn’t lift a finger. Mr. Pharaoh’s hands were as immaculately manicured as Elizabeth Taylor’s in Cleopatra.

“When the Chinese Wall was built, where did the masons go for lunch?

When Caesar conquered Gaul, there was not even one cook in the army?”

And the big one is when the Spanish Armada sank. I remember the year 1588 as well as I do 1492 and 1776. ‘Cause I was told that’s when Sir Francis Drake conquered the Spanish Armada. He did? By himself? And so Brecht writes, “When the Armada sank, we read that King Philip of Spain, King Philip wept.” Here’s the big one: “Were there no other tears?”

Now to me, public radio as well as history should be about those who shed those other tears. And about who makes the wheels go round.”

OK, now I’m inspired to go out there and find some great stories!  Thank you Mr. Terkel, thank you Transom!