Garry Parker Animal Portraits

Gary Parker

I chose to look at a photographer who had done some work on animal portraits. This is something I want to try. There are many photographers out there who do this type of work but most I looked at were boring, showing pretty images of fluffy kittens sitting about. I like the work of Gary Parker because he appears to capture the character and spirit of the animal with his images. Research shows many households have at least one pet and in some cases, the pet alleviates Empty Nest Syndrome for older married couples. Their animals are not just pets but companions, and many owners consider their pets their children.  I think Parker captures the best from the animals and the humans he photographs. The owners are often in the photographs and the love they have for their pets is captured by Parker. That’s what makes his photographs different

I notice Parker’s images focus on the object in the foreground while the background is out of focus. This puts the emphasis on the animal. I suspect he also uses photoshop to create layers if he needs to. Many of his images are taken at different angles and heights to create interest. The subjects are often not aware their image has been taken. I think he will take several images and uses the best ones.

Parker is also clever to use some colour in his images, a yellow flower petal floating the a white toilet bowl with the black cat watching in the image below or purple flowers out of focus in the foreground and the subject in the background.

His composition is planned and by that I mean he sets the image up, he considers light, focus, background, colour but most importantly he tells a story. For example the image of the dog and cat makes me think the dog is eating out of the cats bowl. Fluffy is a cats name but perhaps Parker filled the bowl with dog food to set the scene to photograph.