For a city that is photographed millions of times a year by over a million different photographers, nothing captures the District as uniquely as the photography of Matthew Parker. With special attention paid to space and time, Matthew is able to create amazing collages of the city, its monuments, events and neighborhoods.
Matthew begins each of his projects by sketching out an idea. After the sketch is complete, he then sets out with his camera to begin photographing his subject. Sounds simple right? Nothing could be further from the truth – the process of photographing his subjects can take anywhere from months to several years!
In order to capture the changing nature of time, Matthew will revisit and photograph a subject over several seasons and various lighting and weather conditions to capture time. His collage “Cherry Blossoms Four Years From the Water” took an incredible four years to make.
In Matthew’s photo “Strasburg Fans a Dozen,” a series of photos were taken to create a time-lapse collage of Washington Nationals’ pitcher Stephen Strasburg deliver a pitch during the National League Championship Series Game 3.
In his collage “Dugout,” three days’ worth of photographs were used to create a giant banner scoreboard containing the names of the entire roster of the Washington Nationals during the 2019 World Series.
This photo of the Inauguration of President Obama was featured on CNN and displayed at the Newseum:
As an architect by day, Matthew is keenly aware of perspective, space and detail. By rotating the camera to various angles, he is able to create 3D-like images that jump out at the viewer.
So what’s next? Along with planned collages of some of Washington’s most famous monuments, his work will take a very personal turn. As a recent cancer survivor, Matthew is planning a series of collages documenting his experiences and struggles in beating the disease.
Good luck, Matthew – we’re looking forward to seeing your new work!!
You can see more of his work at his website, and on his Etsy shop. He frequently shows at local art fairs (you may have seen him at the F St. Holiday Market), and has been exhibited at the District Architectural Center.
All photographs copyright Matthew Parker
What a fascinating way to look at the capital city! Very creative to generate the 3d illusion from a bunch of flat 2d photos….. I am sure it required lots of patience and planning.