Biography

Keith Dotson is a black and white, fine art photographer. Beginning his career in Texas, after graduating collage in Austin and spending many years as a professional art director. Then going onto teach art and design at a community collage. This gave him a strong background into his current role as a professional fine art photographer. Outside of his photography, he describes himself as, …a parent, an environmentalist, an observer, a foodie, an art lover… He is now based in Nashville, filled with new exciting areas and surroundings, he captures landscapes, cityscapes and other interesting things he sees. In particular I like his abandoned car project. Although he is based in Nashville he often travels, mainly around America wherever the gloomy days and interesting subjects are!

Work

Keith Dotson, works in high contrast black and white images. To create these he uses overcast days that may photographers don’t enjoy, this allows the subject to shine in it’s own light, capturing deeper details and tone in the photo. Dotson references the spirit of the land, he aims to capture how the landscape has been shaped by the weather, geography, history etc. He doesn’t have a niche on what he photographs specifically but instead focuses on the aesthetic of his work, it tone, impact and effectiveness.

His work has been displayed in films, tv series, to finance companies, hotels and just about everywhere else. He has exhibited his work but mostly his work is used by others from wall art or stage backdrops. The versatilely of his work is immense, from his own powerful series of photos to clients using them for a range of things, his work is well loved throughout the world.

Image Analysis

“The Ghost” Junked Antique Truck – Black and White Photograph (KD10763X)

This photo I think is a great representation of Dotson’s style and aesthetic, one I am inspired by for my own project. The photo is part of a collection of six images of cars in an abandoned junk yard, shot on film. The camera used was a medium format Cinestill Double-X BwXX black and white film using a vintage Hasselblad camera. This film has been cut and repackaged from classic Kodak Eastman Double X motion picture film. This film is known for its tonality and sharpness, all important to Dotson’s style. Looking at this photo, the composition is straight on, eyelevel shot, showing the harshness of the light coloured truck in comparison to the background. All the moss and years of grime are shown through the high contrast, harsh black and white. He has captured the lines in the photo, from the curves of the bonnet, he has had to make sure that even with the harsh lighting the cars curves remain clear and don’t blend into the background. The truck takes up most of the frame, forcing the viewer to focus on it, the age and the details due to years of abandonment. On the right of the frame there is a glance of another car, enforcing the ideas about the environment being an abandoned junk yard. While Dotson used an 80mm lens it has a wide angle feeling to the photo, partly due to the cars shape, I do think Dotson enhanced this by being closer to the car and using it as the subject, hence the little foreground, which is also a contributing factor in the wide angle feel. It is a strong image, thought provoking and forceful in what it, it wants you to see due to the composition and harsh contrast. Overall it is a very strong image and goes well in the collection, giving a small insight into the abandoned junk yard, picking up the details in a bold way.