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.
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