Ian Parkinson has sadly passed away, at home on 31st July, aged 83. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. There will be a private funeral but his life as an artist, photographer and former Head of Art at the College from 1973 until his retirement in 2001 will be commemorated at a later date. Please contact Annie Parkinson (annieparkinson2015@gmail.com) if you would like to attend the commemoration. However, please understand that the reply is likely to take some time, given all she has to do.
Ian Parkinson joined the staff of Scarborough College in 1973, 28 years later, his service to the Art Department came to an end with his retirement at the end of the Summer Term 2001.
The following tribute is from the School Report 2001
“Ian’s teaching was often inspiring and always generous. Notionally a part-time colleague, he often gave up an evening, weekend or part of a holiday to provide extra-tuition, and to give his students every additional opportunity to reach the exacting standards he set. An expert photographer himself, he regularly offered Photography sessions on an extra-curricular basis, and, more often than not these were over-subscribed. Past productions such as Oedipus the King and O What a Lovely War! owe much to his shrewdly conceived and patiently crafted stage designs. Parents always appreciated the care and sheer detail he would invariably provide in his end of term reports, even though they were sometimes defeated by his hieroglyphic handwriting. A kindly and well-read colleague, very much of the old school, with a dry sense of humour and apparently endless patience, Ian Parkinson has given outstanding service to Scarborough College, and we wish him a long and happy retirement.”
2014 Alumni Award – Peter Caton.
In his final year at the College, everything changed. Ian Parkinson, Head of the Art Department, took Peter’s class on a photography outing. Ian felt that Peter showed some natural ability and encouraged him to concentrate his class time on photography. This encouraged him to believe that he had the ability to make a career in the subject.
Peter was accepted to study photography at Cleveland College of Art & Design in 1994, where he was the only student to specialise in social issues rather than the more popular sport and fashion programs.
He graduated with a BA (Hons) in Photography in 1998 and determined to make his way as a freelance photojournalist. Peter’s next step was to raise funds to purchase photography equipment, and he spent time working in a club in London where he experienced social issues rather different to those he would encounter later in his career!
In 2000 Peter and his camera set off to explore India. During his travels, he was asked by Greenpeace to document the 18th Anniversary of the Bhopal disaster where 20,000 people died from a toxic chemical leakage. Peter stayed on in Bhopal, living in the slums and focussing his photography on the problems experienced by the women who lived there. This resulted in a seven page article in various Marie Clare magazines around the world. He then undertook freelance work covering the fight to eradicate leprosy, spending time living in a leper colony in India. This resulted in three of his photographs being exhibited in the National Portrait Gallery in London.
Greenpeace subsequently commissioned Peter to act as photographer on the Rainbow Warrior in their Cut Coal Save Climate campaign. Subsequently, Peter committed himself to living out of two rucksacks and basing himself in India as a freelance professional. More work was soon to come his, way including a study of climate refugees in the Sundarban regions of India which increased his interest in global warming.
