“It’s about encouraging people to slow down, take the city in, and see things that just catch your attention.”
Meet the photographer who is helping people to see Belfast through a different lens by slowing down and taking it all in.
Ricky Parker has been a professional photographer for the past 15 years, focusing mostly on commercial, corporate, and landscape photography.
On Wednesday, November 11, he is hosting an event as part of the RE[Frame] Festival titled RE[Frame]: Climate Through the Lens where he will be taking people for a photography masterclass exploring landscape, environmental storytelling and the changing world around us.
Ricky will be taking people through how to look at familiar places differently, and how photography can be used to communicate stories about climate and nature.
Speaking to Belfast Live, he said: “Sometimes when you walk around the city you’re more interested in just getting to your destination rather than enjoying the journey of looking around you.
“It’s about encouraging people to slow down, take the city in, and see things that just catch your attention. It’s also about learning how to turn a normal photograph into a good photograph.
“We’ll be looking at removing distractions from a photograph, and learning how to use your phone camera to get nice, composed photographs.
“It’s learning about using light and thinking about what you’re actually trying to show, if you’re wanting people to feel like they’re in the photograph or are you wanting them to use their imagination. There will be lots of different tips.”
As for places in the city he loves revisiting to take photos of, Ricky said: “Belfast is such a lively city now and there are so many new buildings going up, but I love walking around and just looking at the old buildings.
“City Hall, for example, is a stunning building. If I was trying to take a photo of it now with the Christmas market just being built, that would be my first distraction. I can’t take a whole photo of the building as the market is there.
“Once the market is open it’ll make for some beautiful photographs, but as the minute while it’s being built, if I wanted a nice photo I would be thinking how do I remove the market from it, what angle is it taken from?
“It’s a dull, cool day today, so I would be thinking of how to add some colour into a photo too – maybe including some nice lovely orange leaves in the trees.”
Through his event next week, Ricky will also be looking at what photography can teach us about the environment and climate change locally.
“We’re now into the start of November and there’s still leaves in the trees, some of them haven’t even turned orange yet. They’re saying that is due to a hotter and drier summer, so you can see how that is affecting the environment locally,” he added.
“There are a lot more chances to go out and get photographs of storms now, images of waves crashing over walls, due to the impact of climate change here. You can see how noticeable it is.”
The photographer said his main takeaways from the event would be that people really take in the world around them, while learning how to take good photos even just with their own phone cameras.
The RE[Frame]: Climate Through the Lens event will take place on November 11 from 12.30-2pm at Vault Artist Studios, Bankmore Square. For more information, click here.
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