Trent Parke – MONUMENT

STANLEY/BARKER 2023

First edition, third printing – just arrived!

Pages — 296

Details — Flexibound / Embossed leather cover / Blind stamped end sheets / Sprayed edges / Metal plaque / Multiple paper weights / Gatefolds

Size — 314x251mm

When Trent Parke moved to Sydney from a small Australian country town, his first impression was of the sheer volume of people. He would grab his camera and go out exploring at every opportunity, fascinated by the endless processions.

At rush hour, he watched as the city workers moved in great mass, all walking the great conveyer belt of life. In a trance like state, treading the same path day after day, week after week, year after year… clocking on, clocking off, all under the spell of the city. Parke would stand on the edge of the wave, on the outside of a new world, looking in. As if watching a newly discovered species.

The more Parke photographed the rush hour, the more he became drawn to the light. He began crisscrossing and circling the city on a daily basis, chasing the sun as it moved from street corner to street corner. Trying to make sense of what everything meant and what seemed like an endless struggle.