David Parker
Visual Artist: Photography; term
I was born in St. Paul, and I’ve lived here in Minnesota most of my life. It seemed natural to try to break into the artist world with my camera. It seems that I’ve been using one for as long as I remember. From “borrowing” my parents Kodak 100 film camera, to being envious of the neighbors when they brought home the brand new “disk” film camera; the ability to capture an image on a piece of film was what pulled me into photography.
Coupled with my love of old buildings and architecture, I wanted to go out and capture these fantastic buildings across not only Minnesota, but the United States; the world. I started doing “day” trips across Minnesota to find some of these fantastic buildings that were still standing. Fergus Falls, for example, with the old Regional Treatment Center. Traveling to these locations across the state, you pass through many small communities which also have plenty of fantastic buildings. Ceylon, Fairmont, Jackson. St. Joseph, Stillwater. The list can go on; so many of our communities – even Minneapolis and St. Paul – have fantastically historic buildings.
But I also find myself drawn to the farming communities of southern Minnesota. The small towns that are all but drying up due to that farming isn’t as popular as it used to be, coupled with the small farmers being bought out by the larger corporations for their land. The towns are disappearing. The wonderful, old wooden barns are slowly disappearing as well; they are either falling apart due to neglect or being torn down as the large corporations bring their own equipment to the farms and do not need storage for them on site.
My work has been published in magazines, newspapers, calendars, and online. My images have also been used as permanent displays in several buildings. I love history and exploring. Nothing’s more fun for me than traveling to a new (or old!) location and wandering around with my gear, looking for subjects to photograph. I’m so lucky to call myself a resident of Stillwater, Minnesota, for more than a decade now. This town has a great mix of history (it’s known as the “birthplace of Minnesota”), and the whole town begs to be walked and photographed.
One thing you’ll notice about my images is the lack of people in them. Although I do occasionally photograph people, I really enjoy and focus my work on photographing buildings, bridges, sunrises and sunsets.
