We recently connected with Parker Day and have shared our conversation below.
Parker, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?
At Subway they call the people who make your sandwiches “Sandwich Artists.” I used to joke that I wanted to give up the grind of hustling for photography clients and Instagram likes to embrace the simple life of a Sandwich Artist. Mayo? No Mayo? Wheat or White? Simple. Peaceful. Pure. My current reality is that I do have a “regular job” as it were. I support my husband in running his laser business. We provide laser equipment and services for music videos, concerts, and other events. We have clients like Beyonce and Metallica. My role is on the business, not artistic, side. Doing this work allows me to channel my creativity into my art while not worrying about hustling my art for money. I used to support myself solely from my art/photography but it was lowkey soul sucking. I felt like a had to twist what I was doing to meet a market and please others. I want to be free to create art on my own terms and for my own satisfaction first and foremost.
I’m also a new mom to a 4 month old boy so that’s a 24/7 job!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m a photographic artist in Los Angeles known for colorful portraits of weird and wonderful characters. My work deals with identity–particularly the creation and expression of personas. I went to the Academy of Art University in San Francisco for photography 2002-2005 (I dropped out). There I got a good technical foundation in film cameras and lighting. My life meandered in various ways but I always felt called to go back to photography. It was when I turned 30 that I said to myself, “if not now, when!?” and committed to finding a way to do my art my way. In 2015 upon moving to LA from the SF Bay Area I hit the ground running forging my photographic style and meeting interesting local people to take portraits of. This quickly blossomed into the series of 100 studio portraits called ICONS, featuring real and fictionalized characters. The series blurs the lines between what a “real” person and an invented persona is.
My focus is on making art and selling it as prints in galleries or as NFTs. I work with clients from time to time, mostly in music or fashion, but they always come to me for my style–what you see is what you get!
We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)
Everything in our lives is increasingly moving towards digitization. Robots vacuum our floors, a robot lady controls our lights and even the humble toaster is now “smart.” The average American spends 7+ hours a day glued to a screen. Our art consumption is largely on our devices. Often that’s monetized by large corporations (Meta, anyone?) at our expense. NFTs directly benefit their creators while tapping into the human desire to collect. Collecting art (or beanie babies) satisfies our urge to possess what we love and to forge communities through shared interests.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
Society doesn’t owe anyone anything. Society supporting the arts or not is a reflection of what it values. I do think a world where art is valued for its own merits is one I’d like to live in. Art can inspire emotion or ideas and I think that has great value on its own. However, oftentimes art is seen as only having value in its function as advertisement or as something that can be resold for more in the future.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.parkerdayphotography.com/
- Instagram: @heyparkerday
- Twitter: @heyparkerday