Tony Keeler

 





Images Across the Sea:
Africa and the Caribbean




15th - 19th October 1996
Jock Colville Hall, Churchill College
Cambridge University, Storey's Way

sponsored by the
African Studies Centre and the Centre for Latin American Studies
Cambridge University


Portrait, above left: Hairdresser, Veradero Beach, Cuba
Portrait, above right: Dogan man

     [We apologise for any loss in quality that may have resulted when scanning in the photographs used throughout this Web site. We would like to thank Mr Keeler for permission to display these photographs.]

   Other works from the exhibition:

Tuareg from Timia

 Portrait of a Tuareg, Algeria

      Child at Agadez, Niger

 Closeup of a Samburu woman, Kenya

 Principal dancer of a cabaret on the terrace of the Hotel Casa Grande, Santiago de Cuba

 Fulani woman, Hombori, River Niger

      Portrait of female slave of the Tuaregs, Ayourou Market, Niger

 Tuareg woman, Algeria



 Tony Keeler ...

Born in Greenwich, Connecticut in 1933. He was educated at Choate School and went on to graduate with a degree in     Political Science from Harvard University in 1956. Immediately  after completing his studies, he left for Cuba and spent the following two years living in Havana. It is during this period     that he became deeply interested in Latin culture. Shortly before  the Cuban revolution erupted in 1959, Keeler returned to the US and in 1960, he immigrated to Catalonia, Spain, and has been residing there ever since.

 His professional development as a photographer during the past 36 years can be summarised as having taken place in three stages. The first period, 1960-1970, consists mainly of capturing graphic  images     of Andalusian culture, particularly those aspects associated with Flamenco Music. During the 1960s, photography as an artistic  medium was in its infant stage in Spain. Many of Keeler's early     photos of Flamenco artists, apart from being appreciated for their aesthetic value, are therefore also regarded by many as being  significant from a historical standpoint. IN the latter half of the   1960s   he joined the circle of Catalan artists such as Salvador Dali, J J Tharrats and Antoni Pichot, in Cadaques, a Mediterranean seaside  village, which has for several decades been an important meeting     point for many well known artists. Keeler produced numerous portraits of these painters and the creative as well as eccentric  environment in which they lived. The second stage of his work,     1970-80, focuses on drawing a sharp contrast between the free spirited hippies, who during the 1970s invaded the island of Ibiza,  Spain, and the traditional rural culture of the islanders. His book, Ibiza A Dream provides mysterious graphic illustrations of these divided but harmonious worlds. The third phase, 1980-90, is  characterised by thorough ethnographic exploration of the continent     of Africa, in which he captures the unique qualities of Africans and the diverse environment in which they live. In 1989, he returns to  Cuba for the first time after thirty years. He discovers that many of     the elements which had appealed to him in the 1950s continue to exist in the 1990s. Since then, he has made numerous trips to Cuba  to document visual impressions of contemporary Cuban culture  with    all its socio-economic complexities, beauty and charm.

Keeler regards Ortiz Echague and Cartier-Bresson to be his main  influences. The human factor, rather than landscapes or material     objects is the central focus in the work of both these photographers. Keeler primarily employs black and white film. The notable feature  which is prevalent in much of his work is an uncanny ability to get     people to respond favourably to having him take extreme close up portraits of them.

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