Mount Athabasca

The Rocky Mountain Poems blog post has consistently ranked among the most-visited pages on this site, since I posted it 10 years ago this month. Before that, it enjoyed similar popularity on another one of my blogs.

Over those years I had a few inquiries whether it was available in book form. Now it is.

Last year was a bumpy one, during which I underwent two followup surgeries to a more challenging operation on Halloween, 2024 (not a treat!). Nonetheless, I produced two books in between, including the previously-announced Eighties Vancouver.

The Rocky Mountain Poems, collects 20 poems — the first written on my second visit to the Rockies in 1973 — and photographs also made over more than 4 decades, to summon a picture of a time and lifestyle that could not have arisen in another era or a different landscape.

The book is available internationally in both hardcover and softcover through the Blurb bookstore.

“Raymond Parker captures the disconnection of the rural man in urban spaces. He observes the wilderness as an intimacy. These poems call from the tree line, urging you back.” — Micheline Maylor, Poet Laureate Emerita of Calgary

I started this journey more than 40-years-ago, shooting on the streets of Vancouver with my medium format camera. The second element in the book is the text, a mixture of Vancouver history, photographic technical info, and personal anecdotes drawn from my diaries of the day.

I announced the book project about seven-years-ago. However, a series of health challenges slowed the process (in fact, I’ve just arrived home from a surgery today!) Nevertheless, I spent the best part of the summer of 2025 finalizing a draft and, now, presenting it in two versions: an 88-page 7″x7″ softcover, and “deluxe” 96-page 12″x12″ hardcover, with extra photos and accompanying stories.

Preview the books below, click through to purchase.

Need more info? You can email me at: info@raymondparkerphoto.com

Softcover Edition

Five years ago, I announced the preparation of a book featuring photographs from the Eighties Vancouver portfolio. Fans of the collection voted for their favourite images to be included. I began writing “blurbs” to go with the photos. I wrote an introduction and a fellow photographer wrote a forward. I engaged an editor to oversee the project. Then fate intervened.

Without going into detail, a series of health challenges knocked the project onto the back burner. And, to be honest, my YouTube Channel (please subscribe) took away a lot of my time. Ironically, my latest health challenges, including two cancer surgeries in the last 8 months, have sort of focussed my attention back on book projects — yes, plural — to see them through to completion.

The final proof has just come back from the printer and I’m pretty excited to go over it, make any corrections and revisions, and ready it for final printing and sales. I anticipate copies for sale before the end of the summer — as early as August. The first edition is a small 7″x 7″ soft cover containing 88 pages and 40 photographs. This will be the most affordable edition. An expanded, 12″ x 12″ hard cover is in the works. Books will be available via a link from this site.

Here’s hoping that some of the people who expressed interest in the project five years ago have not given up! Believe me, this has been a dream of mine since I began documenting the changing urban landscape of Vancouver, 40 years ago.

About the “blurbs,” which have presented the greatest challenge — the photos, of course, have been around for a long time: they are a mix of historical notes, contemporary updates, technical notes, and personal memoir. I hope readers will find them interesting. You will have chance to peruse an excerpt before ordering. I’d be interested to know if you are interested and, especially, if you’ve hung in there for five years! You can email me at: info@raymondparkerphoto.com

Please note that the former online shop has been discontinued, since I could not maintain it during my hospital stays. Limited edition prints are still available, however—they look even better than reproductions in this book, which are fabulous themselves! Inquiries invited at the email address above.

It’s a question often asked, and the claim that technology has little to no bearing on the ability to produce good photographs is often the opinion offered in various photography forums. There’s no doubt that it’s not possible to create any kind of photograph without technology. The photographic process has always been a combination of creativity and technology. But at is there a point where hardware gets in the way of seeing? Or is the hardware our window on the world?

In this two-part video series, I ponder the question.

Episode one (Cameras & Velos)

Episode Two (Spaced out)

For more content like this, check out my YouTube channel.