Susan Parish, Photographer

THE SOUTHERN SOUND

THURSTON COUNTY

LANDSCAPES

AMERICAN INDIANS

PACIFIC GOLD

BEACH BLUES

FLORAL

THE SANDMAN

A MAGICAL PORTRAIT

*some galleries for updates*

My interest in photography began in childhood at the elbow of my Dad.  As I was shy, I got out of being the subject by becoming the photographer.  There was power there behind the lens... I could use a camera as a tool to approach people and events otherwise barred.  As I am short - I can also get to the front of a crowd without much notice.

A camera allows me to indulge an incurable curiosity. I sent away cereal box tops to buy my first camera in 1957 and still cherish it.  I have shot Nikons since 1977.  Most of my work was in Black & White until I fell in love with color when I went digital 2 years ago.  Now I get to be the painter I never had the patience to be.

My first memorable photo-shoot was of Janis Joplin on her last tour; Seattle, 1967. Favorite shoot - Raymond Burr - what a delightful soul.  I also got to be his chauffeur and was the only crew that ate raw Olympia Oysters so we sat together drinking wine eating oysters and he told me about his love affairs.

Surviving as a free-lance photographer in a small market region hasn't been easy. I have shot everything; news, documentary, architecture, event, wedding, portraits, models and politicians; although everything is documentary to me. I probably wouldn't still be in photography if I hadn't bought the Jeffers Collection.  It was printing Vibert's 8 x 10 negatives that I quit shooting 35mm.

I have been a newspaper editor, Olympia News- still miss that weekly paper, a Visitor Services Director at Washington's Capitol...and, I've taught local history.  I've also written a lot and hope to do a great deal more in the future. I think of myself as a photo-journalist more than an artist.

I collect photography of the Pacific Northwest; it's important to save photos of who and what we were; to honor our past and teach our children.

I still rise early to catch the morning light ~ as it plays off the fog in Nisqually Valley, makes Mt. Rainier glow in hues to beautiful to capture but I try and  wakes up the city. Lately, with digital, I am entralled by evening light and night photography and witness the setting sun as it shouts or slips gently into the good night.

I hope you enjoy my own work as well as the historic photographic prints I make. Inquires and comments are always welcome.      S. Parish

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The Susan Parish Collection