portraits

Making portraits is my opportunity to understand the world and connect with its communities. I began making portraits at the early age of 15, and through the next four decades of photography as a career, portraiture has remained the core of my work. I see these fine art and documentary sessions as an intentional archive of existence casting light on the deeply stitched thread that binds us. To me, a portrait is a split-second of vulnerability, connection and a sharing with one another that will never happen again. It is absolute truth in that moment, and it is how I translate our shared human condition.

Life lives within the experiences accumulated.

Below is a cinematic preview of the faces, stories, and moments that define this portrait collection. The accompanying soundtrack is an original piece recorded in my studio—a reflection of the rhythm and intentionality poured into every photograph.

Black and white large format portrait of an elderly woman holding a mug at a wooden table in Madison County NC by Parker J Pfister
8x10 large format film portrait of a tattooed mother holding her two young daughters in rural Western North Carolina
Black and white portrait of an Appalachian family sitting on a large rock in the woods of Hot Springs North Carolina by Parker J Pfister
Stark 8x10 large format film portrait of an older man in a plaid shirt holding a fly swatter in Southern Ohio by Parker J Pfister
Fine art black and white 8x10 large format film portrait of an elderly couple standing together inside a lush greenhouse in Madison County North Carolina by Parker J Pfister
Stark black and white large format film portrait of a blonde mother with her arm around her teenage son's shoulder in Madison County North Carolina by Parker J Pfister
Fine art conceptual portrait of a man and woman covered in cicadas, captured on 35mm film by Parker J Pfister
A powerful, close-up fine art 35mm film portrait capturing the intense gaze of a man with cicadas resting on his head
A stark, close-up fine art 35mm film portrait detailing a woman's face surrounded by cicadas
Stark black and white large format portrait of a man wearing a cowboy hat and belt buckle with clenched fists in a Madison County North Carolina rodeo
Editorial black and white 8x10 large format film portrait of twin brothers in cowboy hats standing shoulder to shoulder at the Madison County Rodeo in North Carolina
Fine art black and white large format portrait of a man wearing a crown made of barbed wire by Parker J Pfister
Fine art black and white 8x10 large format film portrait of a bearded man in a white t-shirt holding a rifle in Southern Ohio
Fine art black and white large format X-ray film portrait of a young Catawba River Indigenous person with a handprint painted over their mouth by Parker J Pfister
A striking black and white large format film portrait of an older musician in sunglasses and a black suit, capturing the spirit of Madison County bluegrass by Parker J Pfister
Stark, documentary black and white large format film portrait of a sheep shearer holding a freshly shorn fleece against a wooden barn wall in Madison County, North Carolina

FEATURED DOCUMENTARY SERIES

Salt of the Mountains

of Solitude