The Newsletter of Photogra pher Keith Dotson
Third Quarter 2015
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Headlines
Watch for Keith Dotson Photos on TV This Fall I’ve had pictures licensed for three upcoming new TV shows. More updates later when the shows actually begin to air. For now, this is what I know: •
Angel from Hell CBS pilot starring Jane Lynch (of Glee fame) and Maggie Lawson. They’re using the leaf pictured here.
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Lady Dynamite on Netflix starring Maria Bamford. Program will be broadcast in 2016.
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Problem Child pilot on NBC.
I’ll report more as I learn it, but be sure to watch for my work on your TV soon. Unfortunately, my long term relationship with Melissa and Joey will end this fall, as the show leaves the air.
Keith Dotson Photography Launches a New YouTube Channel
I’ve added a new channel on YouTube to discuss the art of photography. While I’ll occasionally post video portfolios of my black and white still photography, and talk about the art business from my point of view, the feature I’m most excited about is “3 Minutes Looking at a Photograph.” In each three minute segment we will look at and discuss a great photograph by some of history’s most influential photographers. Forgive me if my early efforts are a little rustic. Quality will improve as I get the feel for the new challenges of video and audio production. Visit my YouTube channel here.
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Six Photographs Land at Artessa at Franklin Artessa is a new luxury apartment community in the booming upscale community of Franklin, Tennessee, not far from Nashville. The historic town is known for its numerous Civil War battle sites, as the headquarters of major corporations like Nissan America, and for the abundance of music business celebrities and executives who call it home. With the help of a Houston interior design firm, Artessa selected six of my photographs of local historical sites for a planned gallery wall in the office / clubhouse. The final enlargements were face-mounted to UV protective plexiglas and suspended from the wall with round posts. I’m really pleased with the outcome. Thanks to Artessa at Franklin and to M. Ford and Associates.
Above: Artessa selected six black and white photographs of local historic sites for permanent installation on their gallery wall.
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Headlines “Ring of Serpents” Large Print Ships to Client in Austin Many thanks to art consulting firm Arts + Artisans (Austin/Houston) for selecting my “Ring of Serpents” photograph for their recent project in Austin. The large, square print was beautiful. The photograph is an architectural detail of the massive bronze doors on the entrances of Nashville’s actual-size replica of the Athenian Parthenon. Art + Artisans also picked my “Feather Study No. 3” (right) for a separate client, also located in Austin.
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Above: Interior photo copyright Marriott International. Photographer not credited.
Refurbished Austin Hotels Feature My Photographs
The Marriott Courtyard Austin-University Area recently celebrated its grand opening, featuring several of my photographs for their interior design. They were gracious enough to invite me to attend the grand opening and even to speak about my work — this NEVER happens! Unfortunately I wasn’t able to attend but I did find one photo on their website showing my picture “Brass Lone Star Doorknob on Texas State Capitol” (Top: circled in white on the wall at far left). Marriott has been good to me over the past few years, placing my photos into several of their properties around the country. I urge you to support companies that support working artists. Plus, this hotel is in a terrific location if you’re ever visiting downtown Austin. http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/auscy-courtyard-austin-university-area/ www.keithdotson.com
New Work
Fresh Photographs of Sunflowers Help Launch a New Portfolio See the full portfolio of sunflowers at http://www.keithdotson.com/photographs/ flowers-and-plants/
This fresh, new set of black and white sunflower photographs is a result of a recent visit to a local sunflower patch. It was early in the morning -- before the sun had really risen much -- and the skies were overcast and gloomy. The sunflowers were mostly bowed with the heads facing the ground. As I walked amongst the tall stems, I realized the flowers were individually quite distinct, almost having their own personalities. The photographs that came from the early morning walk among the sunflowers were the genesis of a new portfolio called “Flowers and Plants,” which I had been thinking of creating for some time. Floral images are not my sepcialty, in fact, I tend to prefer shooting flowers after they’ve died, when the textures and shapes are much more interesting to me. But, over the years I have collected a set of floral photographs that I’m pretty proud of. This new portfolio will eventually be home to all of those images, along with the dark and moody sunflowers seen here.
These dark and moody photographs are definitely not to be confused with the usual radiant images of sunflowers one typically sees.
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History “The Mountain Nymph, Sweet Liberty (Ms. Keene) ” a Photograph by Julia Margaret Cameron Let me just say first thing out... I have a crush on this girl. Look at her. With her bright eyes and direct gaze - it feels like she’s staring right back at us. Throw in a British accent and wow. I’d like to introduce you to Ms. Keene, posing as “The Mountain Nymph, Sweet Liberty” for the lens of Julia Margaret Cameron in June of 1866. You can tell by its distinctive coloration that this an albumen print, in which the light sensitive chemistry is made into an emulsion using egg whites. The title comes from a Milton poem called L’Allegro, which celebrates the pleasures of life.
Cameron was a British photographic pioneer who was given her first camera as a gift at the age of 48, and learned quickly that she was a natural talent.
About Ms. Keene, very little is known. The photographer Julia Margaret Cameron was a British photographic pioneer who was given her first camera as a gift at the age of 48, and learned quickly that she was a natural talent. Although Cameron had no knowledge of the process and confessed that she ruined her first wet plate image by accidently rubbing her hand over its wet, filmy surface, she caught on quickly and came to view herself as a pro. Within her first two years, she sold over 80 prints to the Victoria and Albert Museum. Cameron would enlist friends, neighbors, relatives and even servants as models, dressing them in costumes as though she were producing a play. This image of Ms. Keene is a great example of that. As a connected member of society, she also photographed notables like Darwin and Tennyson, who
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said Cameron’s models were more like victims. Apparently, holding lengthy poses in her untidy studio was not the most pleasant experience.
Above, left – right: J. Paul getty Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and National Gallery of Art
Even though the Victoria and Albert loved them, her photographs were not well received by everyone. Other photographers criticized her technique, calling her soft focus, blurry images lazy and improper. I’m guessing there may have been some sexism mixed into their reactions too. At 149 years old, this photo feels very fresh to me. I can almost imagine this on the pages of a modern fashion magazine. I’ve included links about Julia Margaret Cameron below. I encourage you to seek out and learn more about her pioneering photography work. Credits and useful links: Images courtesy of the J. Paul getty Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, and National Gallery of Art. Getty Open Content Program https://www.getty.edu/about/opencontent.html Tons of great resources - http://www.vam.ac.uk/page/j/julia-margaret-cameron/ http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/23/arts/design/julia-margaret-cameron-at-the-metropolitan-museum-of-art.html?_r=0 www.keithdotson.com
Commentary
The criticism of photography that it’s not really a true art has plagued it since it’s inception. Whether it’s seen as just a mechanical process, or judged to be less difficult and therefore less important than other arts, the question has re-emerged time after time, with the latest volley coming from a London art critic in The Guardian newspaper. As a photographer, here’s my take on the issue. If you prefer you can listen to this commentary on my podcast on SoundCloud.
Commentary: Is Photography Art?
The criticism of photography that it’s not really a true art has plagued it since it’s inception.
It’s a question that’s been in the media a lot recently. I think this is completely silly, yet it highlights a problem of legitimacy that has plagued photography since its invention. Early critics thought photography was nothing more than a mechanical process. Science or chemistry yes, certainly not art. As early as the 1890s, photographers like Alfred Stieglitz became proponents of the soft focus form of photography known as pictorialism in an attempt to legitimize their work as art. The criticism remains much the same today. The argument seems to revolve around the premise that other fine art practices like painting and sculpture are extremely difficult and require a great deal of practice, study, and diligence in order to become excellent, whereas anyone can use a camera to make a quality image. The argument is particularly cogent in the era of affordable and top-notch digital cameras. The latest appearance of the debate seems to owe in part to a series of editorials in The Guardian, which we might assume were designed as much for click bait as for real legitimate artistic discussion. It started with Arts columnist Jonathan Jones arguing in several essays that photographs are lifeless on the wall compared to paintings, and don’t work in art galleries. He went on to say “A photograph in a gallery is a flat, soulless, superficial substitute for painting.” ( http://www.theguardian.com/ artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2014/nov/13/ why-photographs-dont-work-in-art-galleries ).
A Daguerreotype Portrait of Ralph Waldo Emerson by Southworth and Hawes, 1857
In another piece, Jones says photographs are easy to make with a quality camera,
and rely too much on sentimentality and the awesomeness of nature, rather than genuine artistic insight or depth of thought. Furthermore, he claims that he can take photographs with his iPad that rival art photographs, not because he’s an artist but because his iPad is a tech marvel and photography is a technical pursuit. ( http://www.theguardian.com/ artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2014/dec/10/ most-expensive-photograph-ever-hackneyedtasteless#gsc.tab=0 ) To this, columnist Sean O’Hagan responded that yes, photography is an art. He cites examples of great photographers like Julia Margaret Cameron, Edward Steichen, William Eggleston, Nan Goldin, Robert Frank, Hiroshi Sugimoto, and others ( http://www.theguardian.com/ artanddesign/2014/dec/11/photography-is-artsean-ohagan-jonathan-jones ). I recently watched the documentary Levitated Mass, about artist Michael Heizer, who transported a giant boulder from a quarry thru the streets of LA to it’s final site on the the grounds of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Along the way, as the massive, almost immovable boulder slowly wound its way thru the city streets on specially designed trucks, bystanders were asked if it was art, and you know what? There were a lot of really thoughtful and nuanced responses. So, if a mostly unmodified stone can be called “art,” photography is certainly art. The topic has been discussed on debate. org ( http://www.debate.org/opinions/isphotography-art ). The crowd has decided by a surprisingly narrow margin (65% Yes / 35% No), that photography is an art. Google the (continued on next page)
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Cape Horn, Columbia River, Oregon by Carleton Watkins, 1867
(continued from previous page) term “Definition of Art” and you’ll get this: the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power. Merriam Webster defines art this way —”something that is created with imagination and skill and that is beautiful or that expresses important ideas or feelings; works created by artists: paintings, sculptures, etc., that are created to be beautiful or to express important ideas or feelings; the methods and skills used for painting, sculpting, drawing, etc.” What about a definition of “fine art photography”? The Art Encyclopedia defines it this way, and I quote – “the term ‘fine art photography’ has no universally agreed meaning or definition: rather, it refers to an imprecise category of photographs, created in accordance with the creative vision of the cameraman.” ( http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/fine-artphotography.htm#definition ) Wikipedia defines fine art photography like this: “Fine art photography is photography created in accordance with the vision of the artist as photographer.” ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Fine-art_photography )
In 2013, photographer Ming Thein waded into the topic in his essay “The Line Between Art and Photography,” and he seems to side with those who say that the lack of need for deep technical skill and the infinitely reproduceable nature of modern images makes them a lesser art than other more difficult arts such as sculpture. He highlights his own personal need to see the idea in the image, and names the famously expensive Rhein photo by Andreas Gursky as an example of one where it’s intrinsic value isn’t quite obvious ( http:// www.huffingtonpost.com/ming-thein/art-andphotography_b_4297646.html ). As a photographer, clearly I believe photography is an art. What the “mechanical process” argument discounts are the myriad other factors involved in making a photograph, aside from the mechanical clicking of the shutter. To say that anyone with an iPad can take a photograph like William Eggleston, or Ansel Adams, or Steve McCurry, Sebastiao Salgado, or Diane Arbus is beyond ridiculous. I would turn that statement around and say that any of these talents could make a great photograph with any camera, including an iPad. The art is not in the clicking of the shutter. It’s in the seeing of the subject. It’s in the artistic vision of the artist who frames a subject. Part of the genius of Henri Cartier-Bresson’s “decisive moment” is the art of knowing exactly when to
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click that shutter at just the right instance. An image is the sum of an artist’s experiences, their biases, their curiosity, their image making choices, and their interaction and history with the subject. These decisions take place in the selection of a subject and location. They take place in the framing and positioning of the subject. They include the lighting, the settings of the lens aperture, even the choice of films and lenses. And this is only in the shooting of the image. Afterwards comes the selection and editing process. And of course, how the artist presents the final print. This is NOT the same as Instagram. Perhaps the era of social media has made photography a more populist art form, but for an artist with a camera, there’s much more involved than point, shoot, filter, and upload. That Jonathan Jones and others like him don’t understand this fact says more about their lack of understanding than it does about the art of photography. And while I’m on the topic, one final word about Instagram. Personally, I love having more people shooting photos, whether they’re “high art” or not. Photography is the art of the moment. It’s a worthy pursuit and God knows this world can use more people engaging in art, no matter how populist and no matter how much the elite gatekeepers and art critics may turn up their noses.
About Keith Dotson is a contemporary photographer living in Nashville, Tennessee. Specializing in black and white photography, his favorite subjects include landscapes, cityscapes, and abstractions from nature. He seeks evocative subjects with an especially powerful spirit or essence — often objects or places with a strong connection to history. Keith is a single parent of two young adults. Originally from Texas, he graduated from St. Edward’s University in Austin and studied art in Houston. After military service, he worked as an art director and creative director for many years, while exploring painting, drawing, and finally settling on photography. An avid traveler, he has carried a camera across the US and to many spots around the globe, from Europe to India, and even above the Arctic Circle in Greenland. For several years, he taught art and design on the adjunct faculty at Austin Community College (Austin, TX) and at Texas State Technical College (Waco, TX). He currently resides in the vibrant Nashville area, where he enjoys the city’s live music scene, good southern cooking, and nature’s beauty in all four seasons. Exhibitions Keith’s photographs have been exhibited in Los Angeles, New York, Austin, Nashville, Minneapolis, Toronto, Madison (WI), and Knoxville (TN). Collections In addition to many private collectors across the US, Europe, and Australia, photographs by Keith Dotson can be found on the walls of major hotels, financial services firms, high tech companies, universities, and fine restaurants. Have You Seen Keith’s Work on TV? Keith Dotson’s photos have also made appearances on the walls of many TV shows like Melissa and Joey, Gossip Girl, with several images licensed to appear in new shows for the upcoming 2015-2016 season. His work has also been seen in dozens of major national TV commercials for companies like Wendy’s, Spiriva, Marshall’s, and DirecTV.
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