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An Interview with Andei Keough

We both had our cameras out one summer evening as the crimson sun was setting over the Bogue Sound. I had my Canon EOS Digital camera and my daughter Andei had her medium format plastic camera called a Holga loaded with color film.

It was an extremely majestic Crystal Coast sunset. I positioned myself to capture a wide angle shot of the glowing orange sun melting into the water with some trees framed in the foreground of my composition. As I got ready to expose my photographs I looked over and noticed Andei lying down on the ground with Holga in hand shooting the sunset through a white, picket fence. I thought to myself there is no way she can get a decent shot from that angle and vantage point. I mentioned my concern to her, but she brushed me off and took her photographs through that fence. I framed up some nice traditional scenic pictures and was able to view my images immediately because I was shooting digitally. However…we had to wait a few days to get Andei’s film developed and make a print of her sunset.

Long story short…her pictures were visually dynamic and much more unique and interesting than my traditional “post card” approach to photographing the scene. In fact, Andei sold that photograph during an Arts Council exhibition a few months later.

That same scenario has played out time and time again as we traveled and photographed all across Ireland 2 years ago. Andie looks at potential subjects to photograph and sees so many creative possibilities and is not afraid to experiment and take risks whenever she pulls out her camera.

Even though I’ve been photographing for 40+ years, I must admit Andei has taught me a few things about breaking out of my box and SEEING potential subject matter for my pictures a little differently.

I’m sure I have taught here a thing or two as well over the years, but the beauty of photography is we all bring our own personal creativity and vision to art and photography.

The following is an interview I conducted with my daughter over dinner.

1. When did you first start becoming interested in photography?

I’ve been taking pictures from an early age considering both my parents are serious photographers, however the first time I truly realized just how much I loved photography was when I was living in Sicily and my mother let me use her 35 mm Minolta film camera that had a broken light meeter. She taught me how to use it and explained the shutter speeds and f/stops to me before I went outside and shot my first roll. The pictures came out great and I was hooked from that moment on. Since that time I’ve fallen in love with medium format film photography and have experimented with a variety of plastic cameras such as the Holga and Diana Camera, in addition to more recently shooting with a Hasselblad 2/14 format camera.

2. What do you think it means to be an artist?

To be an artist is kind of like being a philosopher. I make photographs because I am curious about the world around me. I want my pictures to make people think. Everybody brings there own insights, experiences and perspectives to the work and I am well aware that my pictures may communicate different things to different viewers. Artists and fine art photographers should make you think in new ways about the world around you. I love photographically exploring colors, patterns, textures and I like to incorporate symbolic references in my pictures – especially when I work with models in setting up a photograph.

3. Where do your ideas for your photographs come from?

I love traveling to new places and exploring those new environments and the people with my camera. I’ve been lucky to have done a lot of traveling over the past 10 years. I have photographed in the Bahamas, Ireland, Sicily, Rome, France, El Salvador and Amsterdam. I don’t really specialize in any one type of image making or subject matter. I love documentary, fine art, travel photography and portraiture, in addition to coming up with visually interesting environments, outfits and props for my models.

I am still young and realize my work and personal style is still evolving and that’s the way it should be with art and photography. I have noticed a lot of my landscape work is minimal when it comes to my compositions. I like to focus in on or isolate certain colors, textures and shapes in my photographs and that takes being hyper sensitive and in tune with my surroundings. This is just one aspect of my personal style however – not my only approach.

4. What are the situations when you feel a strong urge to photograph?

I just love light and color and I also enjoy going out with my friends and just seeing what can happen when we find a cool location and just start making photographs and having some fun with it. Sometimes I’ll get an idea for a picture and then I try to find the best setting, model and props to bring my concept to life. That’s a real challenge for me as a photographer, but it is also very satisfying when it all comes together and my idea comes to realization.

What was it like to study art and photography in Rome, Italy for your first year of college? Share with us a little bit about how studying and living in Rome and how those experiences influenced the type of photography you explore as an artist?

It was very difficult for me to photograph in Rome because it is such a congested and chaotic city. I did however learn a great deal about studio lighting, creative collaboration and setting up photographs with models while studying at the International Design Institute. This was really the first time I got interested in creating my own environments and controlling all aspects of the photograph. I did love photographing in Sicily. The landscape is absolutely beautiful and the light is like nothing I have ever seen before. Living in Sicily is what got me interested in nature / landscape photography as well as doing environmental portraits. Living and going to college in Rome was an incredible learning and growing experience for me and I’m glad I had to opportunity to study art and photography in the city of Michelangelo, Raphael and Da Vinci.

5. Why do you like shooting film over digital photography?

I find shooting with film is more of an alchemical experience. To me there is something mysterious about the photographic process and that makes it more of an art form to me. I believe there are more layers of meaning in film photography and it’s more of painstaking process when you are developing and printing your images in the darkroom, instead of just downloading your pictures into the computer. I’m excited about the “subtle magic” in traditional film photography and it compliments my personal style better than digital imaging.

I know it sounds weird, but I consider myself a bit of a Renaissance woman. I enjoy trying my hand at a variety of artistic mediums and just love to create whether it be with photography, pottery, sewing or painting, Its all about learning and experimenting for me. Art and photography are mediums that help me understand and make some sense of the world around me.

Making pictures is what I really enjoy and I try to make it a part of my daily life. I’m still young and very enthralled and excited about life and all its possibilities. Art helps us ask and sometimes answer the WHY’s of life.

Check out Andei’s photo blog to see more of her work. Click Here!

There’s no doubt the older we get the faster time goes by. Seems like the years are just flying by – time has been hyper drive since the new millennium rolled in. At least it seems that way to me.

Christmas vacation is over and its back to my Teaching/Distance Learning Administration job at Carteret Community College. I’ve really enjoyed the 2 week respite, especially my trip to El Salvador.

2012 will be the year I retire from my regular job after 30+ years of teaching art and photography, in addition to my work in distance learning. I don’t like to use the word retire because I don’t plan to stop working by no means. I am planning some photography workshops with Vasa Project - the first one coming up during Easter break in Sardinia, Italy and lots of traveling and other creative endeavors. After a forced 6 month sabbatical from teaching for the Community College system I plan to come back and teach art history, graphic design and computer art online as an adjunct in order to supplement my retirement and keep my mind active.

I must admit I love teaching and find it very rewarding and personally enriching. I also enjoy the challenge of teaching “effectively” in the online environment.

One more cup of coffee and its off to the office for me. Six more months of “showing up” at the college and then the next chapter of my life begins. I certainly can’t complain. The past few chapters have had their ups and downs, but all in all I’ve been blessed with a job teaching the things I love and am passionate about.

Lets just hope the world doesn’t end as predicted by the Mayan Calendar. It may be just entering another phase like my El Salvadorian friend Alejandro Moiser who uses Mayan imagery and iconography as the point of departure for his paintings explained to me.

Here’s to a productive and enjoyable 2012!

Its hard to believe I was looking out at the Pacific Ocean while relaxing in a hammock just a few short days ago. I made it home to North Carolina feeling a little more rested and rejuvenated, although I must admit, I was not ready to come back. A week isn’t enough time to truly decompress – at least not for me.

The best part of my trip was spending time with my son Adam. I know its a cliche, but PRICELESS would be the best way to describe our time together. Whether it was climbing down a mountain to see a huge waterfall, drinking cold beer and shooting pool in El Tunco or riding dirt bikes through the mountains and little towns of El Salvador – spending time with my son was really special.

The older I get the more I realize just how important it is to savor each and every moment we have on this earth. I essentially told Adam not to worry too much about the future – I reminded him to enjoy the life he has carved out for himself in El Salvador. The future always gets here and usually a lot quicker than we ever expect. He is doing some really exciting things with his Catholic Relief Services work, in addition to being able to surf big waves and do things many young people only dream of doing.

Photography’s taught me to “be in the moment” at least when I have my camera in hand and I’m in “shooting mode”. Photography forces me to be present and hyper aware of every little nuance, gesture, expression and of course the ever changing quality of the light. Its my way of truly connecting to the world around me. My camera is a license to explore the world – to get beneath the surface of things – to investigate subject matter that I’m curious about. My camera is my best travel companion and the photographs I take enable me to hold on to those precious little moments that gave me some insight and understanding into a world outside my own.

These are my outtakes from this last trip to El Salvador…click the thumbnails to enlarge.

Opening Procession @ Spanish Mass

This is my last full day here in El Salvador. The weather has been amazing. Warm sunny days and cool nights. My son Adam made sure my visit was both restful with some fun and a few adventures tossed in. We went to mass last night at a church in the village near his home. I was treated to some wonderful Christmas music before mass with a very upbeat Spanish rhythm. I didn’t understand very much of what was being said, but it just felt good to me to be at church on Christmas Eve with my son. He translated some of the homily for me so I got the gist of the priest Christmas message.

Today we are just taking it easy enjoying the peace and quite here at the beach hostile. Reading a good book and savoring the present moment because I will blink and be back home tomorrow night.

Here are some photos I took on our way to church last night. We stopped at a fish market to purchase some red snapper to cook for dinner. The light had a magical glow to it at the fish market on the pier. I hope all who stop by KeO BloG have a wonderful and blessed Christmas!

Fishing Pier at Dusk

Old Fashion Ice Cream Machine at Pier





Fishsellers



Breading Fish





Open Air Market across from Church


]]> http://keoughp.wordpress.com/2011/12/25/feliz-navidad-wishing-everyone-an-merry-christmas/feed/ 0 keoughp elmass1 elsalpier iceman fatima fishmarket fishmarket1 shrimpweigher market http://keoughp.wordpress.com/2011/12/24/motorcycle-madness/ http://keoughp.wordpress.com/2011/12/24/motorcycle-madness/#comments Sat, 24 Dec 2011 19:30:50 +0000 keoughp http://keoughp.wordpress.com/?p=3961 ]]> Since scaling a steep cliff down to a majestic waterfall wasn’t enough adventure for this old guy, Adam and I went on Motor Cross “off road” excursion through the mountains of El Salvador.

We had very little experience riding off road motorcycles so we spend the morning practicing our skills on a training course where we rented the bikes.

It wasn’t as easy as I first thought, but after 2 hours of ripping around the bumpy dirt course we were ready to head to the mountains for the tour.



The views at the top of the mountains were incredible to say the least, however I found myself totally concentrating on navigating my Honda 200 dirt bike down the pot hole ridden dirt and gravel paths.



We took a short break in a little mountain town and made friends with a group of kids who wanted to try on our helmets and sit on the bikes. I took lots of photos of them and after each shot showed them the picture on the back of the camera to lots of laughs and giggles.



It was another invigorating fun filled day here in El Salvador. The best part has been spending time with my son Adam and getting my mind off the pressures and demands of work.



You only get one life to live and I plan on sucking the marrow out of it as long as I can.

It’s Christmas Eve here in El Salvador. I must admit it doesn’t feel like Christmas with this heat and not hearing Christmas music blaring everywhere. Merry Christmas to you all! Feliz Navidad!




]]> http://keoughp.wordpress.com/2011/12/24/motorcycle-madness/feed/ 2 keoughp meadammc mecycle1 memcycle kidsgroup refection2 kidsbikes http://keoughp.wordpress.com/2011/12/22/to-old-for-mountain-climbing/ http://keoughp.wordpress.com/2011/12/22/to-old-for-mountain-climbing/#comments Thu, 22 Dec 2011 15:30:28 +0000 keoughp http://keoughp.wordpress.com/?p=3944 ]]> There’s never a lack of adventures here on the coast of El Salvador. I started the morning of my second day in El Salvador taking a Yoga Class. Yes…that’s right. I took a Yoga class and I’m glad I did because that same afternoon Adam and his friends invited me on a hike in the mountains down to a majestic waterfall.



They didn’t tell me I would be scaling the side of a 3500 ft. mountain with no climbing gear. All I had was a pair of running shoes, jean shorts and my camera dangling around my neck as I tentatively navigated my way down the cliff to the waterfall.

At one point about halfway down the steep cliff I looked down and wondered to myself if I was just getting to damn old for this type of strenuous activity. After all I am 35 + years older than Adam and his friends. The thought left me as fast as it came because I had to stay focused on keeping my foothold and not slipping as we all traversed the steep, narrow rocky path down to the waterfall.



The grueling climb down was well worth it because we were greeted to a beautiful site.

Adam and his friends dived into deep pools of water as I took photographs. The climb down was exhilarating to say the least and it was fun to watch the young people enjoy diving and swimming in the cold mountain pools.

The climb back up was more physically challenging for me, however it didn’t seems as scary going up as it had climbing down.

Before heading back up I noticed the light casting long shadows across the rocks so we took a shadow portrait of the group. We had a great guide who watched my back the entire time – there is no way we would have even found the waterfall without a local guide.



Tomorrow Adam and I are renting motorcycles and embarking on a cross country mountain ride. I could get used to living here in El Salvador. The people are extremely friendly and there are lots of fun things to do and see that don’t cost and arm and a leg.

Stay tuned for the travelogue from our cross country motorcycle sojourn. I suppose you are never too old to live life to the fullest!

Here are a few more photos from our waterfall climb…..





Adam and I hamming it up at the foot of the Waterfall



Adam Sliding Down a smaller Waterfall



Adam's Friend Mauricio Jumping 40 feet into Water



Sunset Day #2 Reminds me of a Rothko Painting


]]> http://keoughp.wordpress.com/2011/12/22/to-old-for-mountain-climbing/feed/ 4 keoughp elsmountains riverbed waterfall adamjump shadows groupsht meadamwatrfll adamslide mauricio sunsetrothco http://keoughp.wordpress.com/2011/12/20/travel-trials-and-tribulations/ http://keoughp.wordpress.com/2011/12/20/travel-trials-and-tribulations/#comments Tue, 20 Dec 2011 20:44:09 +0000 keoughp http://keoughp.wordpress.com/?p=3932 ]]> Sunset in El Tunco

I finally made it to my son Adam’s home located near a little surf resort 30 minutes from San Salvador called El Tunco, which means pig in Spanish. They named the town after a pig because there is a giant rock coming out of the water in front of the town that supposedly used to look like a pig until the waves and weather wore the pigs likeness away.



I must admit traveling is getting more and stressful for me – especially as I get older and have less patience for the lines, pat downs, customs check points and hectic pace of it all. The following is an excerpt from yesterday’s travel journal to show you what I mean.

” Sitting in an airplane in Atlanta waiting to fly out to El Salvador and spend a much needed weeks vacation with my son Adam. Looks like we are going to be taking off a little late due some maintenance issue. The flight to Atlanta was interesting to say the least. I had an aisle seat in the very back row of the small commuter plane and as the last of the passengers boarded I noticed a very VERY large woman coming down the aisle towards we clutching a bag of fruit and a very large purse. My conservative estimate is she was at least 300 + pounds. Yes! You guessed it! She had the seat next to mine. I got up – let her squirm her way to her seat and when she sat down it became very evident that she took up almost both seats. I was literally jammed against the armrest as she got settled in. She couldn’t get buckled in so the flight attendant had to bring her TWO seat belt extensions. Luckily the flight to Atlanta was only a little over an hour. Oh the joys of travel!”

Adam picked me up at the airport. The place was a madhouse with hundreds of people coming home for Christmas. After jumping through the customs and passport checkpoint hoops and grabbing my bag I made it outside to be blasted by the tropical heat. The sweatshirt had to go!



I knew I was in El Salvador when the pick-up truck in front of us as we drove to the beach had a family sitting in the back with a fan spinning in the wind keeping them cool. You can’t make this stuff up! I grabbed my camera and had to document it for proof.

We were invited to lunch by our friend and local El Salvadorian TV celebrity Regina who prepared us a marvelous lunch – her beautiful home looks out over the entire city. What a view!



Adam Relaxing with a Surf Magazine with his Dog Peanut by his side

Putting up with the anxiety of traveling is still worth it when you can finally kick back and relax in a hammock with a good book and a magnificent view of the pacific ocean. Nap time!


]]> http://keoughp.wordpress.com/2011/12/20/travel-trials-and-tribulations/feed/ 3 keoughp tunco carfan adamrgina adamhammock http://keoughp.wordpress.com/2011/12/18/off-to-el-salvador/ http://keoughp.wordpress.com/2011/12/18/off-to-el-salvador/#comments Sun, 18 Dec 2011 16:31:57 +0000 keoughp http://keoughp.wordpress.com/?p=3927 ]]> This has been a grueling semester with so much going on between teaching, distance learning demands, Vasa projects and a few personal challenges thrown in the mix. I just submitted the last of my grades for one of my freelance colleges and am heading home to finish packing for my trip to visit my son Adam in El Salvador for Christmas break. I’m ready for some serious rest and relaxation and some father and son bonding time.



Its hard to believe I’m retiring from my primary job here at Carteret Community College in just 6 months. I’ll by no means be quitting working altogether. I’m not capable of that although I’m hoping to have more time to travel, paint, photograph and write, in addition to planning more workshops and projects with Vasa.



I’ll be posting updates from El Salvador so stay tuned. Adam said we are climbing another Volcano and doing some surf fishing the El Salvadorian way – with nor fishing rods. Should be interesting! I had a great visit with Adam last August and I know this trip is going to be every bit as fun and exciting. My camera battery is charged up and I’m ready to do some photography and blogging during my travels.


]]> http://keoughp.wordpress.com/2011/12/18/off-to-el-salvador/feed/ 4 keoughp http://keoughp.wordpress.com/2011/12/15/remembering-patrick-millard/ http://keoughp.wordpress.com/2011/12/15/remembering-patrick-millard/#comments Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:00:58 +0000 keoughp http://keoughp.wordpress.com/?p=3919 ]]> My friend and VASA colleague Patrick Millard was found dead the other day. Many of his friends and students are still in shock. His students put this memorial video together paying homage to him. He was so incredibly talented. A passionate artist and teacher. Life is so very short so live each day as if it were your last. He will be missed! God Speed Patrick! We love you man!

Click Here for his last Vasa Project Gallery Talk


]]> http://keoughp.wordpress.com/2011/12/15/remembering-patrick-millard/feed/ 1 keoughp patrick_Small