Lake of the Sky Images: The Photography of Harold A. Parker (Lake Tahoe) by Carol Jensen and the North Lake Tahoe Historical Society (Paperback)

The Lake of the Sky Images: The Photographs of Harold A. Parker, the first survey of Parker’s Lake Tahoe regional photographs, documents the career of a commercial photographer inspired by the Lake of the Sky to capture images treasured still today. Capturing the pristine beauty of Lake Tahoe and key to its transformation into an international destination is Harold A. Parker (1878–1930). Initially engaged by D.L. Bliss as a commercial photographer, Parker’s brochure images promoting the Tahoe Tavern were widely distributed throughout the West. Parker images of accessible sights from the steamship Tahoe soon became treasured mementos of summers spent at Lake Tahoe by city sophisticates and schoolmarms alike. Images frequently recognized but often unattributed to Harold A. Parker set the artistic standard for Lake Tahoe photography for decades. Parker held the summer franchise for the Tahoe Tavern photo studio and newsstand from 1908 to 1913. Successor photographers often set their tripod in Parker’s footsteps to capture the same image. Parker studied at Throop Polytechnic Institute better known today as CalTech, Pasadena, in its first class of 1900. Parker soon established himself as an outstanding commercial photographer in the San Gabriel Valley. His adventuresome spirit found him in San Francisco capturing earthquake images, ballooning above the San Gabriel Mountains photographing the first aerial pictures of Pasadena, and summering at the Tahoe Tavern filming panoramic majesty.