Traci M Parks

Columbus, United States

About the Artist:
Tracy had a plan. After graduation she would work as a commercial photographer. But three months after graduation, in 1994, Parks experienced an eye hemorrhage that left her legally blind at 26. Over the next two years she had at least a dozed more hemorrhages, each one damaging more nerve cells in the retina.

Parks refused to give up her dream. In 1994, with no savings, no equipment, no work experience and no car, she started Miracle Images, her own commercial business, photographing buildings for architects and construction companies. "Buildings after all are big, stationary, and made up of lines, textures and patterns" that she could see well enough, with the help of an assistant who could double check the focus for her.

In 2002, Traci's vision deteriorated to the point when she could no longer pursue commercial shoots. At first she was devastated, but in time, she felt relieved of the pressure of running a business and so she invented a new way if making art.

When Traci takes a photograph of a stream, she huddles so close to the water that she appears to be in danger of falling in. When she captures an orchid on film, her lens practically nestles into the blossoms. Nonetheless, Traci whose corrected vision is now 20/600 has become a popular local artist.

To pursue her craft, Traci uses a handheld magnifier to blow up her image from a Polaroid, allowing her to see her subject and composition more clearly before using regular film. She also uses a large, close-circuit TV to help her proof and crop photos; the TV allows her to magnify images up to 25 times their actual size.

Still what takes the average photographer a few minutes, often takes Parks hours. It is frustrating because it takes so much patience. Yet Parks maintains that it is her enthusiasm that makes her work stand out. "I get excited about a watermelon," she says. "I am more fascinated by the things I do see because I don't take them for granted."