Keith Carter
(b. 1948) Keith Carter is an internationally recognized photographer who has exhibited in over 115 solo shows in 13 countries. Sixteen monographs of his expressive work have been published, including a fifty-year retrospective book in 2018. Carter is known for creating blurred images with limited depth of field, which give his work a sense of awe and mystery.
He speaks frequently about the importance of belonging to a particular place and being able to recognize beauty in the mundane: “It’s not so much what you see, it’s the significance that you see in things that give them resonance.” His fascination with the people, animals and landscapes of Southeast Texas has resulted in a highly popular following among museum curators and collectors.
Carter is a recipient of the prestigious Texas Medal of Arts (2009), the Lange-Turner Prize from the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke (1991), and the Regent’s Professor Award from the Texas State University System (2010). He currently holds the endowed Walles Chair of Art at 四虎影视. Carter's photographs can be found in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago; National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.; the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, California; the Museum of Fine Arts Houston; The Smithsonian American Art Museum; and The Wittliff Collections at Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas and The Art Museum of Southeast Texas in Beaumont. His work has been collected by numerous celebrities including Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Julia Roberts, Ralph Lauren, George W. Bush and Michelle and Barack Obama.
Art on Campus
Butterfly
Year: 2005Medium: Digital Pigment Print 1/25
Location: Reaud Administration Bldg., South Lobby
This image was taken in the Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium in New Orleans. The muted colors, simplicity and incongruity of the habitat create a graceful natural design.
Flamingo
Year: 2005Medium: Digital Pigment Print, 1/25
Location: Reaud Administration Bldg., South Lobby
This image was made in the Galapagos Islands in a saltwater marsh called Laguna Salinas. Carter said of the image, "I was drawn to the simplicity, quiet light and elegance of the bird's stance."
Silent Birds
Year: 2018Medium: Mixed Media
Location: John Gray Center, Rudy Williams bldg., Suite 122
Gift of Cheryl and Phillip Fuller
In Honor of Sandra Clark
In 2017 Carter begain experimenting with the medium of collage by cutting up found photos and adhering them to different surfaces such as this antique music case. He still references his love of nature, along with interest in memories, with this construction.
Egrets
Year: 2016
Medium: Archival Pigment Ink Print 1/25
Location: Nursing Building, 1st Floor Hallway
Gift of Betty Moody in memory of Nancy Evans
This image of a mother egret feeding her babies is from the series “To Build an Ark,” a body of color work that explores the impact of climate change and loss of habitat for animals. Carter’s goal is to “document an evolving landscape, exquisite even in its chaos.” He digitally manipulated the natural colors with palettes and patinas inspired by Dutch and Italian painters, which is why the normally white egrets appear pink in this photograph. Although egrets are common in Southeast Texas and have been photographed by Carter in the wild, he chose to take this photograph in a natural history museum setting to further emphasize the loss of habitat for animals.
Moss
Sunrise
Cypress Swamp
Little Cow Creek
Year: 2015
Medium: Digital Pigment Prints, 1/25
Location: Reaud Administration Building, President’s Suite
In 2015 Keith Carter began photographing the wetlands along the Texas and Louisiana border for a project called “Ghostlight.” These images are a photographic survey of the swamps, bogs, marshes, bayous and fens that help shape the topography, folk tales, myths and legends of the South. The culmination of this project is a 2022 publication of a book from the University of Texas Press.