keith carter

Often called a “transcendent realist” and “a poet of the ordinary,” Keith Carter grew up watching his single mom work professionally as a portrait photographer.

“Among his earliest memories is waking in the middle of the night from a pallet on the floor to see a small orange safelight above the kitchen sink where his mother stands. He steps over beside her then raises himself on tiptoes to watch in wide-eyed wonder as one of her photographic images slowly comes up in the developer. It is magic, indeed it is a miracle – and to this day my friend Keith Carter has never gotten over it” – Bill Wittliff.

Keith eventually gave photography his own shot, at first finding his subjects in the familiar, yet exotic, places and people of his native East Texas. He has since expanded his range not only geographically, but also into realms of dreams and imagination, where objects of the mundane world open glimpses into inexpressible realities. His tenth book was just recently published.

I don’t remember the first time I saw Keith’s work, but I do remember the way it made the little hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I took a workshop with him in Santa Fe in 1998 and again in 2000 in Tuscany. Those workshops were filled with Willie and Waylon, references to all sorts of great American literature, poetry readings, laughter and good ole boy East Texas story-telling. Never have I had such a good time making and sharing pictures.

Keith taught me a lot. I often think back to phrases he uttered, challenges he threw down, questions he posed. He was the most insightful and generous of teachers, sharing every ounce of himself, his techniques and his thought processes each step of the way with every single one of his students.

There were so many things that Keith said that have stuck with me and that have helped me navigate my way through difficult situations. I owe a lot to him as a teacher and a friend.

His work makes me crazy, makes me feel like giving it up sometimes. Like… how in the world can I possibly add anything to the world of photography after what he has already done? I feel very honored to be in the exhibit at the Nelson, having my work alongside his.