Monterey County is the home of many talented and prolific landscape photographers. One of them is Kenneth Parker, a Carmel-based large format landscape photographer who will be the Press Club’s guest in May. He will talk with a Weekly Staff Writer and photography fan Celia Jiménez.
Parker’s latest achievement is captured in his 2023 book, which was the biggest project in his life, Tibetan Mustang: A Cultural Renaissance, co-written with Luigi Fieni after many trips to the last vestige of the authentic Tibetan Buddhist culture remaining on the Tibetan plateau that has not been destroyed by time. “Or by the Chinese,” Parker adds. The project took 20 years and four expeditions, at a total cost of $100,000.
For a long time, Parker used analog 4x5 cameras, similar to the ones photographers used in the 1800s with bellows, the accordion-like, pleated expandable part of a camera, and dark cloths to photograph landscapes in South America, Asia and California, including Point Lobos and Big Sur.
Part of Parker’s work is currently at Weston Gallery’s walls in Carmel. The exhibition is called: Color Near Far exhibition, A spiritual journey of Tibet and Yosemite through the lenses of Kenneth Parker & William Neill. It includes images Parker photographed for his book and will continue through the month of May.
During the event Parker will talk about his love for photography, his transition from analog-to-digital photography and share stories behind some of his favorite images.