Deborah Parks
MY FATHER
Edward Thomas (Ted) Parks CSC, CD
A career cinematographer with the Royal Canadian Air Force, his exploits' behind the motion picture camera covered over two decades of military life and times. As his daughter and following in his footsteps, I have been fortunate to become a documentary film producer and cinematographer in the Canadian documentary film industry and receive awards for my work. Both my father and I were featured together in a special two generations issue of 'CSCNews' (magazine of the Canadian Society of Cinematographers), that was published in March of 1992, a few years after my father's death.
My father was very proud of his success as a cinematographer and photographer and when he put the CSC after his name he was very proud. His love of the medium has had a great effect on the chosen career paths of both me as a film maker and my brother Ted – a corporate graphic designer in Toronto.
Raised in Winnipeg my father watched three older brothers go off to Europe during the second world war and although too young for wartime service later followed in their military footsteps and joined the R.C.A.F., as a reservist at the age of 20. Selected for the regular force three years later he was relocated to the R.C.A.F Photographic Establishment at Rockliffe (Ottawa) to train in black and white photography and in subsequently in 1956 was selected for the R.C.A.F. Motion Picture Team.
He started by shooting survival and training films in Canada’s North and high Arctic regions, which dealt with downed military pilots and crew. Then a move (with family in tow) to Grostenquin, France during the height of the Cold War, (a year before the erection of the Berlin Wall and the Cuban Missile Crisis). His work there took him to Belgium, West Germany, UK, Sardinia and Cyprus, attached to the 421st (Red Indian) fighter squadron. He became greatly involved in the life of this elite squadron which was responsible for surveillance photography and nuclear bomber intercept over Europe and North Africa and I believe this was one of the most satisfying periods of his life.
Edward Thomas Parks
Back in Ottawa later in his career Ted Parks and the motion picture team (mopic) spent years covering military sea manoevers or war games in the such places as Europe, The Middle East, The Caribbean or deep in the American deserts. He travelled the world extensively as a leading military cameraman, and shot many of the training and promotional films for the military as well as Canada’s air aerobatic teams: ‘The Golden Hawks’ and the ‘Snowbirds’. Whether is was the Queen’s first visit to Canada in 1954, Canada’s first open heart surgery (performed at the Tri-service hospital in Ottawa in 1966 or covering the Royal Canadian Navy’s excursion to Communist Russia in Leningrad in 1977 he was there.
He told the storys and brought home the momentos of his adventures. My Dad took early retirement in 1978 and moved to Victoria with my mother, and did not shoot motion picture film again. He was tired and not well but he remained a photographer ‘in their community’ to the very end. He had always photographed sports, schools, weddings, and vacations along with the unique lifestyle of the military community and of course personal essays on many of his exotic postings.