K.T Parker | metropolis

Kate T. Parker:

Parker is a family, fine art and commercial photographer who often creates tutorials online to help budding photographers learn how to use important aspects of photography like LIGHT!

Parker created a series of photographs that explored the position and strength of natural and artificial light.
Her photographs usually consisted of bold black and white figures and features that stand out and often proved that lighting is very important for illumination and impact. Parker experimented with various types of light such as Bulbs or LED lights that, in contrast to natural light, created a harsher glow on her models and often made the light seem lighter and the dark, darker. This would be effective for my project because I want to show the difference between natural and artificial light and how they could both emulate a sense of safety and comfort.

Parker, Window light contrast. In this photograph it is almost as if the light is pouring in from outside and capturing the models in a bubble of safety and comfort. The high contrast gives it a very bold style which is very good at illuminating the children and pushing them out from the background, creating depth and dimension. It is a very modern and beautiful twist on an old method of Chiaroscuro paintings.	Illuminating the face: Parker created this piece using nothing but a black screen and some softbox lights that effectively lit up the models face whilst still being very delicate and blended. This is one example of why lighting is very important in creating the atmosphere you want. This lighting effect makes the figure stand out from everything else and since she is showing happy expressions we instantly get drawn into the idea that despite the photo itself is rather dark and dull, the concept is actually happy.	Vignette and shadow enhancements. This photograph appears to be completely artificial lighting and some digital enhancements. The lighting of half of the face creates a bleak but profound atmosphere. This is because the ring of light allows us to focus on the model and the vignette effect around the edge creates a dark atmosphere as if she were trapped. She looks very frightened and the lighting adds to the mood as it may be quite a bright photo but the underlining mood is very eerie.
Surrounded by light: Unlike the other photo's, this uses natural light in a way that casts a bright, angelic aura which captivates the viewer and appears very positive. It is a lot more uplifting and proves that using a large amount of light, natural or artificial will help exhibit a more care-free and comfortable home atmosphere.

The majority of Parkers work consists of high contrast, black and white photographs. She tends to usenatural and artificial lighting to help make her models stand out boldly from the background whether it be dark or light. Parker likes to use lighting to give her photographs atmosphere so that the different positions and strenghts of light either create a more positive mood or negative. Illuminating the facial features helps change the atmosphere also which is why Parker helped me decide to shine artificial lighting on my models face in my shoots to ensure that I get the right mood. Just like Parker, I want to use a mixture of Artificial and Natural light to illuminate my models face and surroundings to create a safe atmosphere within the bubble of light that surrounds them. Parker's are mainly cheerful and feature her children laughing brightly and enjoying eachothers company in the comfort of their home. However, there are some photographs that are more sincere with a darker atmosphere through the deep contrasting black background to the glowing, sad looking faces. This proves that lighting can have a great impact on the atmosphere of your photos and I want to use Parkers techniques to test the atmosphere I want to create which is comfortable and safe.