By Alexandra Jo
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| Keith Carter, Image: Sam Keith, 2013 |
My very first thought when looking at Keith Carter’s work was “This is an artist that really sees things.” And I wasn’t wrong. Carter’s eye for subject matter, contrast, drama, mood, and the perfect use of selective focus is unparalleled. However, there is far more than a technically excellent, visually striking display of artistic skill at work in his photographs (though that is unmistakably present). After spending considerable time over the past two weeks with a selection of Carter’s work included in photo-eye’s current exhibition, Kindred Spirits, it is clear to me that Keith Carter is also an artist that really feels things.
Carter’s work has an impressive range in approach and subject matter for a fifty-year practice that looks and feels exceptionally cohesive. He creates captivating images that always manage to straddle the line between real and surreal, light and dark, ethereal and corporeal. Carter’s Instagram account, @keithcarter.art, provides a wonderful, personal window into the work. Each photograph that he posts offers a small insight into where the image was taken, who or what the subject is, and Carter’s personal thoughts on/feelings about each. He has recently posted two new works that are currently featured in Kindred Spirits, on view at photo-eye Gallery through August 24:
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| Keith Carter, Only a Little Planet, 2019, Archival Pigment Print, 16 x 16 inches, Edition of 25, $1,600 Unframed. |
Carter's Instagram states: "Only a Little Planet, 2019: Finless porpoises frolicking near Miyajima, Japan. The poet Robinson Jeffers called it 'high superfluousness'. Beautiful thing."
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| Keith Carter, Japanese Wisteria, 2019, Archival Pigment Print, 16 x 16 inches, Edition of 25, $1,600 Unframed |
Carter's Instagram states: "Japanese Wisteria, 2019: My colleague George Nobechi & I are traveling over the southern mountains of Japan near Takachiho, in the Valley of the Gods. Wisteria, Dalmatians, Oranges, People everywhere...bless ‘em all"
In Carter’s specific case, it would seem that the conceptual perspective and feeling behind a photograph work in tandem with his artistic vision and precise craftsmanship to capture and transform his subjects. For me, it is a consistent tenderness of vision and an unbridled capacity for emotion that connects each of Carter’s images across many years, multiple photographic processes, and a myriad of conceptual avenues.
Kindred Spirits runs through August 24, 2019.
All prices listed were current at the time this post was published. Prices will increase as editions sell.
For more information, and to purchase artworks, please contact photo-eye Gallery Staff at:
For more information, and to purchase artworks, please contact photo-eye Gallery Staff at:
(505) 988-5152 x 202 or gallery@photoeye.com
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On view through August 24, 2019
Featuring work by Keith Carter, David Deming, Pentti Sammallahti, and Maggie Taylor
Featuring work by Keith Carter, David Deming, Pentti Sammallahti, and Maggie Taylor
All prices listed were current at the time this post was published.