Parsons is the editor of Emergence: Contemporary Canadian Photography (Gallery 44/Ryerson, 2009) and Photography After Photography: Gender, Genre, and History (Duke, 2017) a volume of essays by Abigail Solomon-Godeau. Her research on 19th century Canadian photographer William Notman has been published by the Art Canada Institute and the McCord Museum. Other essays have appeared in edited volumes and in the journals, History of Photography, Photography & Culture, and the Review of Canadian Art. Her current research focuses on the interconnected histories of privacy and photography.