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A Shattering World in Photos by Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison

The metaphorical multimedia photos of Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison look like they are from another time. However, they portray the Everyman in his attempts to save the world from modern ailments like pollution. Sometimes enchanting and other times disturbing, we follow him as he suffers loss, grief, hope, and personal exploration throughout these dark landscapes. These photo-artworks are a seamless partnership between Robert, who also models, and Shana’s photomontage and painting techniques. This is achieved through a lengthy paper-negative process, not Photoshop, which creates a collage of different exposures. The final image is then painted on with layers of washes. Read more after the jump.

The metaphorical multimedia photos of Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison look like they are from another time. However, they portray the Everyman in his attempts to save the world from modern ailments like pollution. Sometimes enchanting and other times disturbing, we follow him as he suffers loss, grief, hope, and personal exploration throughout these dark landscapes. These photo-artworks are a seamless partnership between Robert, who also models, and Shana’s photomontage and painting techniques. This is achieved through a lengthy paper-negative process, not Photoshop, which creates a collage of different exposures. The final image is then painted on with layers of washes. For their new series, “Gautier’s Dream”, the Everyman is shown as master of an old-timey circus, taking a break from saving our dying world. It feels like a continuation of their original 2000 series “Architect’s Brother”, shown below. There, we see him quenching the thirst of drought with water balloons and rain clouds on strings. In other images, he sews together cracks in the Earth and pulls a blanket of grass over barren land. His work is never finished. Through the curtains of the circus stage, we can see this tragic countryside calling back to him.

“Gautier’s Dream”:

“Architect’s Brother”:

All images copyright Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison.

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