The Black Rose is the culmination of the last seven years of work and soul-searching for internationally renowned photographer Trent Parke. It includes “hundreds of written stories, thousands of photographs and fourteen books, which dissected (basically) my entire life.”

A series of interconnecting rooms opens out like the pages of a book, taking the viewer on a journey through Parke’s dreams, fears, emotions and pivotal experiences. Walking down into the darkened basement galleries is like stepping into a woodland dreamscape, where haunting trees reverberate as if breathing and wild animals swoop and crawl, threatening to come off the walls. In the next room, a formal display of early prints shows a merry-go-round, a slippery dip, an open gate, a black swan: imagery from the artist’s childhood. A video plays: Parke recounts the night he was the sole witness to his mother’s death, and how he blocked out the first twelve years of his life. These works wield an unapologetic punch to the senses and set the exhibition tone.

A large gallery opens out from behind a black curtain to reveal a room titled ‘The Universe’, an installation of twenty-four large prints across two walls. Interspersed between ghostly images of nature is the larger-than-life Candid portrait series of 2013. Everyday people are transformed into floating fragments of their selves, and Parke’s figures loom over the onlooker with beautiful poetry and suggestions of mortality.

Birth, Sydney (2006), a rare colour photograph displayed on bright white walls, welcomes the viewer to the room titled ‘Childhood home’. It captures the moment Parke’s fleshy newborn entered the world, arms wide open as if announcing, ‘I’m here!’. Mum’s hair, Adelaide (2010), a stirring, restrained image of a strand of Parke’s mother’s hair, possibly the last known piece of her DNA, is laid out flat(lining) across a white background. Other images show the artist’s son Dash suffering from a fever, tossing and turning upon crinkled bed sheets, arms again thrown open, perhaps this time beckoning cool relief.

Broken Rose, Adelaide (2011), a photo and iPad work, tells the story of when Parke’s black rose pot plant shattered. In what the artist describes as a devastating moment, he states, “sometimes it takes a child to bring an adult back to planet earth.” Again, Parke draws attention to everyday objects and fleeting moments that could easily pass by unnoticed. By capturing these moments he slows down time; reclaims time lost. However, with only one stool, one set of headphones and such minor placement and scale, many visitors may miss this experience.

Images are joined with stories, spoken and written. Descriptive titles, repetition and significant groupings reveal meaning. There’s physicality and humanity to these flat prints – breathiness, veins, wrinkles, blood, sweat, chatter – images of and from life. Room after room, black, white, then black again, like the opening and shutting of a camera lens, or eyes in and out of sleep and wakefulness, or pages turning.

As I walk up the stairs into the light of day, joining unknown faces on familiar streets, Parke’s voice slowly fades and time begins to quicken once again.

The Black Rose, open daily 10am-5pm until 10 May 2015; Art Gallery of South Australia, North Terrace, Adelaide; (08) 8207 7000, artgallery.sa.gov.au