Trent Parke has been deeply influenced by the wide-open spaces of the Australian outback. His work is steeped in light poetry, most of the time in black and white. Whether it’s in Dream Life or Minutes to Midnight, which sold out the day of its release last month, the photographer captures images we might have dreamed, but which life has taken care to create for him. The people, spaces and objects that make up his world all have the ability to blur the line between fiction and reality. Without modesty or fuss, the photographer delivered another wild tale just before Christmas: his family album, in colors, which came in red and gold wrapping paper.
‘ that was the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse
The opening of the book instills a sense of peace, until later on we learn why not even a mouse was stirring—we see it dead further in the book. But the album is still a jolly mess: the four children pile up on top of each other, crying and laughing like nursing puppies, while gifts cover the kitschy carpet, a makeshift cook dressed like a hot dog makes barbecue, and the brother gets ready to dive into the pool wearing a one-piece bathing suit probably borrowed from his wife or sister-in-law.
We see generations of family and friends crammed into a single day. Many of the photographs were taken without the subjects’ knowing, as improvised as the fantasies they capture, and the book follows the rhythms of this imaginary day that is Christmas. The misty mornings, the agitation, the games, meals, naps and nights. In the middle of the book, a little blond angel, perhaps three years old, straddles a doll and kisses it gently on the nose before going off to sleep. After a heavy meal, the parents grow sleepy on the couch and grandpa’s already in bed. The flowers on the sheets nearly match the carpet. His large black undies are strewn across the floor next to the pillows he’s thrown down. The party’s over.
“To all, a good night,” Trent Parke says in the acknowledgments on the final page. After everyone else is asleep, he makes one last tour of the house: a few burnt dinosaur-shape cookies sit on a plate, two bodies are outlined with chalk like at a crime scene, Santa Claus is decapitated and the tree has lots its needles. It’s like a gory dream, artless and tender. Sweet dreams.
Book
The Christmas Tree Bucket, de Trent Parke
Steidl
128 pages, 38 euros
ISBN : 9783869302065
http://www.steidl.de/flycms/en/Books/The-Christmas-Tree-Bucket/0001021429.html
http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=MAGO31_10_VForm&ERID=24KL534BCY
