An Artist's Statement from Keith Cooper

Keith Cooper holding a picture, which in this case steadfastly refused to say a thousand words for an artists statement below.

- click on the picture for full size view.

The Statements

Many people who know Keith might say there is no shortage of statements from the artist...

OK here's one or two... :-)

"<TEXT GOES HERE> when I get round to writing it :-)"

"I regard the habitual use of tripods in landscape photography as a relic of the 19th century"

"Anybody who gets a magnifying glass out to look at one of my prints isn't the kind of person who is ever going to buy one."

"Striving for perfection is a fundamentally futile activity - why try to do something that by definition you will never achieve - realistic targets can sometimes be bettered, and that's really satisfying when it happens."

"Perfection is the enemy of the excellent"

"Artist's statements are frequently pretentious tosh written to fit in with the needs of galleries or final year projects. You can usually spot remnants of this nonsense in photographer's promotional materials when they are not long out of college. This is a passing phase. More worrying is when it turns up later in life - frequently associated with 'projects' which as most working photographers know is a euphemism for lack of paying work"

"I always find an 'Artist's Statement' slightly suspicious -- even more so if I think the person that wrote it really believes it."

"Look at my landscape pictures and if you come across one that emotionally reaches out to you then my work is done. They all represent how I felt at a place, at a particular time. It's impossible for me to know what they mean to you, but seeing people just stop and stare at one of my prints - somewhere else - never fails to cheer me up."

"I'm a professional photographer - I don't have a 'practice'"

"A good photo is one people want to look at"

See also Keith's article: "Artist's statements - do you ever believe them?"

Other areas of our site that may be of interest...

We've a whole section of the site devoted to Digital Black and White photography and printing. It covers all the specialist articles and reviews written by Keith. We've many other Photography Articles and Photographic equipment and software reviews on the site aimed at helping you get the best out of your own photography.

There is a gallery of landscape photography and fine art prints.

All new material appears on the Articles, news and reviews page.

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