A Parallel Planets piece by Unknown
Parallel Planets presents David Drake
in Cinematic Cosmos
Story by Nicole Lane
Mentioned: film photography, explorative lighting, and chromogenic prints
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Whether documenting creatives in the studio, capturing still life through a store-front window, or exploring with youth and cinema, David Drake works with a camera to explore his own personal work. Living in the UK but hailing from the United States, his work captures a cinematic aesthetic in combination with a muted bubble gum filter in his various photographic endeavors. Upon entering David’s website, the first image is a colorful individual with an All-American smile on his face holding an ice cream cone with a cherry on top (Coney Island, anyone?). Once one goes deeper into the selected projects, there is a bit of disconnect and many questions for what and who David is trying to document or capture. I think this is what keeps me looking -- what keeps me wandering back to David’s work time and time again.
Not only does David practice the art of color photography, he also explores with black and white and sepia-toned images. The variety within his portfolio mirrors his wide range of exploration with subject matter --his interest from still lifes, to snaps of friends, as well as documentary work all create an evenly displayed spectrum of David’s skill and creative core.
In his series, “Dierentuin” there is an exploration of light, contrast, and the shadows that are made up within the choice of black and white photography. In comparison to this, the project “Carousel”, which was shot on a Hasselblad, displays colorful and vibrant images that include light through obvious manipulation done to the surface of the photograph. Both techniques provide a common theme between two aesthetically opposite forms of presenting images.
Not only does David Drake work on personal projects, he also does commissioned work where he has photographed bands such as Glass Animals, The Soft, as well as various clothing lines. You can check out more of David’s work on his Cargo Collective website and his Facebook, which he updates frequently. David primarily shoots with a Hasseblad 500cm, a Fuji GW670, a Minolta x700, and a Speed Graphic 4x5 to produce his manipulated and cinematic projects.
