Storytelling comes naturally for photographer Keith Carter whose East Texas roots have greatly influenced his penchant for creating extraordinary photographs from encounters with everyday objects, people, and animals. In his most recent work, Carter continues to spin his tales of photographic wonder. And by cajoling others - both friends and strangers - to participate, he creates poetic and enigmatic narratives that surpass straightforward portraiture and head straight into the mythological. A man converses with an owl who listens intently to this human's outpouring. What could be more natural? A gigantic, towering hand emerges from the ground with fingers outstreched as a small, dark figure hurries by. All is plausible in Carter's mysterious worlds. Moving beyond the literal through use of selective focus, scale and perspective often askew, Carter illuminates the intuitive meanings of images as would a poet. He doesn't seek reality but instead looks, as he says, "around the edges for those little askew moments - kind of like what makes up our lives - those slightly awkward, lovely moments."
In addition to working as an artist, Keith Carter teaches photography at Lamar University in Texas. His work is included in many prominent collections including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the George Eastman House, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Amon Carter Museum. His publications include Keith Carter: Photographs, Twenty-Five Years, Bones, Heaven of Animals, Mojo, The Blue Man, and From Uncertain to Blue. This is the third exhibition of Carter's work held at photo-eye Gallery.
