On Tuesday, April 7, Karen Keating will present: "Saga of Producing Your First Photo Book". Her talk will follow the steps from a project through several iterations to the published book, "Cubans: Watching and Waiting" in November 2008. She will have a slide show to accompany the conversation, questions and comments are welcome, and she'll have some images and books. Karen will join us for dinner at Chili's at 5:45 pm prior to the Program, so please rsvp to mary.m.o'neill@nospam!#*&^#)type address - don't copy spam protection(*@.@nospamgsk.com if you're planning to attend dinner.

Karen Keating is a fine art photographer and an educator. Trained as an elementary school teacher and after raising a family and taking basic and intermediate photography classes at Glen Echo Park, Karen received a Masters in Fine Arts Photography degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore in 1986. For the past 20 years she has balanced a career as Director of Photoworks, an artist residency program at Glen Echo Park, Maryland, a studio photography teacher at The Field School in Washington, D. C., and as a fine art photographer exhibiting her images locally and nationally. Karen is a member of the Multiple Exposures Gallery at the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, Virginia.

Like most artists photography became a process of self-discovery. Karen's early interest was as a photojournalist working for a local newspaper as photo editor and covering people and events of local Maryland interest. Most images were clear documents as the "photo was worth a 1000 words." Beginning with her graduate school portfolio Karen began to explore portraiture with an eye on culture and connections. Her thesis portfolio, "A Mother Daughter Colloquy" observed the tense and complicated relationships between adolescent daughters and their mothers. The exhibit was shown locally and in Ohio and its completion was aided by a Maryland State Arts Council grant in 1986.

Slowly Karen's style evolved into a documentary street portrait photographer. Travels to Europe, Central America, Africa and most recently four trips to Cuba presented new places and people and her consuming interest became the everyday life of the people - their rituals and routines, the beauty found in the unremarkable events of daily life. At the same time, Karen maintains an on-going portfolio titled, "Close to Home" which focuses on the personal moments of her interests and life.

Karen's exhibits (solo and two-person) include "Lasting Impression: Portraits from Honduras", "Hope for Honduras: Her Children", "Portraits from Three Continents" "A Cuban Odyssey, 2000-2001", "Cuban Lives, 2003", "Close to Home", "Silence, 2003", "Morning Pages, 2008", "Transfiguring, 2008", "Cubans - Watching & Waiting, 2008-2009", "Looking Back, Looking Ahead, 2009". While exhibiting and producing fine art photographs Karen loves her life of teaching both high school students and adults. A moment of distinction and delight was the Tufts University Teacher Recognition Award in 1998 in which Karen was nominated by a former graduate of The Field School.

As President of Photoworks, Inc. a non-profit photography teaching program at Glen Echo Park, Maryland Karen gives back to the community with an adult and young person photography program. The Photoworks program offers quarterly classes from basic to advanced level darkroom courses, a digital program and an exhibit program. Karen is proud of the cooperation and community support that has kept this an on-going 30-year arts program in the Washington, D.C. area.

Karen has recently published her first photography book, "Cubans - Watching and Waiting" in December 2008. It is available at Multiple Exposures Gallery, Fraser Gallery and Photoworks at Glen Echo Park.

www.karenkeating.com