When Trent Parke (b. 1971) moved to Sydney from a small Australian country town, his first impression was of the sheer volume of people he encountered. At rush hour, he would watch as the city’s workers moved through the streets. Soon, he began taking photographs, drawn not only to endless sea of individuals in front of him, but to the way the sun shifted and illuminated them in different ways. The result is Monument, an impressionistic collection of black-and-white pictures collated over 25-year period. It is now on view at Martin Parr Foundation, Bristol, in an exhibition that opened earlier this year as part of the city’s Photo Festival. Parke is an established name in contemporary photography. He became the first Australian member of Magnum Photos in 2007, and his refreshing take on the documentary genre – blending reality and fantasy – has led to four World Press Photo Award wins, alongside the W. Eugene Smith grant for humanistic photography. This is the first time the body of work will be on display in Europe.
The collection was conceived as a “time capsule,” through which we are encouraged to view the Earth as if from space. Completely devoid of language, it relies upon snapshots to create an archive of human life in urban environments. Rain-soaked pavements, trains rushing by, busy crossroads and shadowy doorways offer glimpses into the everyday routines of residents. “I wanted something that started off very simple but had that feeling of melancholy, before spiralling out of control, to eventually end up the same way that it started … The human race as a blip in the life of the universe spanning the dawn of time.”
These pictures are imbued with a sense of movement and time passing; viewers might be reminded of Daidō Moriyama’s avant-garde images of 1970s Tokyo, which have a similarly high contrast and fast-paced look. It’s no surprise, then, that Parke made the decision to storyboard the images into a narrative sequence – maximising on the feeling of motion they evoke. Monument is an immersive exhibition, with film and slideshow elements as well as maquettes of Parke’s book which was published by Stanley Barker last year. Martin Parr, the legendary British photographer who opened the Foundation in 2017 to support emerging, established and overlooked image-makers, describes Parke as “a unique street photographer”, celebrating his “singular style of super contrasty light and shadow on the streets of Sydney and Adelaide.”
Monument by Trent Parke, Martin Parr Foundation, Bristol | Until 22 December
Image Credits:
1. Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2003. From Monument. © Trent Parke / Magnum Photos
2. Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2002. From Monument. © Trent Parke / Magnum Photos
3. Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 1998. From Monument. © Trent Parke / Magnum Photos
