Keith Fishman started making pictures at the age of 14. Armed with his Yashica range finder camera, a birthday gift from his parents, the world around him came alive with opportunities. Graduating from the Hartford Art School in 1977 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and an additional year to secure his teaching credential, Fishman spent three years in the Stanford Connecticut Public School system as a middle school art teacher. Departing Stanford for New York City Fishman worked as a commercial assistant cutting his teeth under the supervision of fashion and advertising photographers.

Onward to Kennebunkport Maine, Fishman opened Perfect Exposure a photography gallery devoted to local talent throughout New England...Recently, Fishman stepped down as President and Creative Director of the M.I.I. Group, a product development and marketing company he cofounded in 1980. Photography and making pictures has been a life long pursuit. His cameras have traveled around the globe with him, allowing him to glean what he calls extractions from the periphery. The images while disparate are small intimate explorations of light, clouds, symmetry, geometry and place.

Trained as a traditional darkroom/wet printer, the evolving trend towards digital output has allowed him to elevate his craft through exploration of carbon pigment inksets. The carbon giclee process gives these small little objects a painterly quality that speaks most accurately about the image and vision itself. While much has been written about the digital dilemma, it seems to collectively get everyone's hackles up, regardless of their stance on either side of the line. It is akin to the argument for and against cloning. Some view it as an egregious assault on humanities ethics. While others, the most remarkable scientific breakthrough of the 21st century. 

Digital is just another tool in the photographer’s bag. Fishman is a straight photographer, who does not employ tools that are not found in a traditional darkroom environment, He still shoots film and scans the archival processed film for output into his Macintosh G4. The work involved in crafting a fine digital print can often exceed the time normally spent in the darkroom.

Fishman continues to make silver gelatin prints and will be exploring platinum images output from digital negatives, "This is an exciting time to be a photographer," says Fishman. The tools to assist in creating an expressive photograph have never been more powerful and precise. The joy of making pictures remains constant. The journey outward in search of the quiet place where light is the star, and the chaos silenced, will never change, regardless of the rapidly evolving technology.

Fishman is also a collector of both 20th Century and contemporary photographs. He serves as Chair of Fine Arts Initiatives of Photofutures at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. 

Keith Fishman makes his home in Santa Barbara, California.



©
Copyright 2006, Keith Fishman Photographs, All rights reserved.
This site maintained by John Spann