The damp soil, the salty marsh air, a graveyard of sassafras trees, and a heavy fog saturate the places where winding streams and rivers run into the ocean. Through his black and white landscape series “Tidelands,” Photographer Parker Stewart invites viewers to reflect upon the quiet moments of the marsh.

Parker’s Introduction to Photography 

Stewart grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina, and developed an interest in photography when he was in the seventh grade. He discovered his love of the craft while taking photos on his brother’s digital camera. He captured anything and everything that caught his eye, from skateboarders and surfers to the natural world all around him.

Later on in high school, Stewart lived on a boat in the Caribbean with his family for a year. That experience traveling at sea during such formative years is what inspired him to pursue photography as a profession, choosing to attend college for photography.

In 2011, Stewart moved to Savannah to study photography at the Savannah College of Art and Design. Shortly after graduating in 2015, Parker established his photography studio, Parker Stewart Studio, in Savannah, Georgia. However, it wasn’t until 2020 that Stewart began documenting photos of the Low Country with intention.

“As an emerging landscape photographer, I was always looking for opportunities to get out of Savannah and travel west or abroad to photograph the grandeur. When the pandemic happened, and I wasn’t traveling as much, I began to really discover the quiet grandeur of coastal Georgia and the Low Country. I started spending more time on Little Tybee, Wassaw, and Ossabaw, photographing the untouched beaches and the eroded trees, the dense interiors and beautiful oaks, and most importantly, foggy days in the marsh looking for unique places and subjects,” said Stewart.

The Process of Photographing the Low Country

Stewart’s work goes beyond simple landscapes. Using composition techniques, absence of color, light and shadow, weather patterns and organic subject matter, Stewart’s photographs evoke emotions, sensory experiences, and–for many–nostalgia. 

“The adversity of the weather became very important when putting together this body of work,” said Stewart. “I felt like arriving at these locations on days of rain, fog, or overcast weather adds another layer of beauty to the landscape. It’s really just an added layer of atmosphere, which makes the image more evocative. My process includes meticulously researching locations, weather patterns, and the tides and going out by car, by foot, or by boat to these beautiful places to make photographs. A lot of early mornings and going back to the same places many times until the conditions are right.”

The Tidelands Exhibition

Stewart photographs the Low Country, intending to encapsulate the mystery of the coast and the beauty that exists within the archaic marshes of the Deep South. 

“I want viewers to walk away with an appreciation of the quiet moments in the landscape, and take a moment to sit with the image and see what sense or memory it might evoke. I also hope that witnessing the beauty of coastal Georgia and the Low Country will drive people to want to help protect this wild place that we call home,” said Stewart.

The “Tidelands” exhibition is currently displayed at the Telfair Museum’s Jepson Center in Savannah until Dec. 7, 2025. To further explore the portfolio of Parker Stewart, go to parkerstewartphotography.com or @parker_stewart_ on Instagram.