FOCUS ON Experimental Photographer Chris Keeney

Bob Mizer tirelessly experimented with almost every format of photography that existed in his lifetime.  Sure, he's famous for his commercial work, but as we know, his skill and interest went far beyond that. He worked predominantly in large format photography using a big 4x5 inch film plate camera in his career and experimented with double exposure and other camera and darkroom techniques. The Bob Mizer Foundation celebrates his creativity and the creativity and exploration of the medium by others.

Remember that at the time Mizer was experimenting with double exposures, the technique was new and fresh, and required quite a bit of skill to achieve.  At left, we see his work with sword-and-sandal B-movie star Ed Fury (Decapitated) (1951).  Ed had to sit with black velvet wrapped around his head during the exposure, this shot may have taken hours to set up correctly. The love of his craft is evident.

Likewise, modern Photographer Chris Keeney also works in a variety of techniques, from pinhole photography to "Through the Lens" photography to infrared to underwater images.  Chris's work provides great examples of the type of obsessive exploration of the photography medium that Bob Mizer was known for.

Chris says "If the essence of life is change, then I imagine its opposite--immutability--must be a form of death. I see my photography as both an affirmation of and reaction to the inexorable process of growth and decay, the wheel of life: my images try to play with the mystery and absurdity of the permanent state of impermanence facing us in this world, and the kinds of images that catch my eye are themselves always changing, as is my technique as I experiment with the ever-evolving technologies and media available today."

More examples of Keeney's work can be found at his website.