SJOTIME PHOTOGRAPHY

 

Title: Cloudcatcher

Artist: Robert and Shana Parkeharrison

 

 

This photograph is from a larger exhibition with 42 total prints called "The Architect's Brother." Robert and Shana Parkeharrison have been known to manipulate photos so they seem surreal. Their purpose of these photographs are to reveal a story of loss, human struggle, and the destruction of technology to man. "The Architect's Brother" is a series of photographs of men who seem to be healing the world or finding the good in it once again after technology brought on by man has destroyed the past. This black and white series reveals a somber contrast with many grays and overcast skies, but the subjects in general reveals a sense of happiness. Such as the case of the Cloudcatcher, this man is sitting in the middle of a man-made hole on a piece of wood that stretches the diameter of the circle. There is no sense of a happy environment, but it seems that this man has found the pleasure of catching something we take for granted everyday.

 

This photograph is extremely successful in making an impact upon the viewer. The atmosphere seems dark, uncertain, and moving in a bad direction. Out of nowhere clouds appear in a place they usually are not, in the ground. Althouh unusual placement, these clouds stand as the hope of the past that this man is trying to catch. The landscape surrounding this man is flat, empty, and wide. This photo seems to reveal the story of an ongoing series of events that eventually took away all that was known to this man. Now, in order to heal or remember the past, he finds a phenomenon brought to him from an unknown source. Robert and Shana are very successful in manipulating photographs to reveal a surreal setting. Their use of black and white encourages the dark sad scene and dramatizes the story. This particular photograph is scary because of the fog and darkness that surrounds this man, but overall, it is uplifting and sends that message that fun and happiness can conquer all situations.