11 january 2005, Broken Hill. N.S.W. Australia

NOTHING GOES A LONG WAY

Photography by:

Keith Rangi and the traveling Studio’s

Rebirth of a manic photographer,

1968. Four years of photography at the academy in Breda. Influenced by the early studio work of both Edward Steichen and Richard Avedon and the colour used by Art Kane. Ran off to Australia in ’72. Worked as builder and photographer. Stayed for two years in a northern Aboriginal reserve (Groote Eylandt). Photography work with Aborigines brought him to the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten (Amsterdam) from ’77 to ’81. (Visual Communication)
Influences of Diane Arbus, Duane Michaels and Les Krims. Then spent twelve years as theatre photographer for all major companies in Amsterdam and the Netherlands, and did portrait photography on commission. Had scores of exhibitions. Stopped abruptly and concentrated fully on perspective studies and still lifes for a few years. From 1992 to 2003 a deep and thorough immersion in New Media. Can do everything on a keyboard. Had children but was unhappy without photography. Digital restart. Started studying again. Fascinated by the Italian Renaissance. Stumbled upon the cubism of Braque and Picasso. Discovered frescos by Masaccio (1401-1428). Believed that Masaccio was the first photographer, the first theatre photographer no less. Still wrestled with the iconography of Cimabue (1240 – 1302). Was lyrical about the immateriality of digital photography. Saw photographic realism as the blind spot in art and media and of course in photography itself.
Said: “To photograph is to play the piano”.
Is unleashed.

(text © PoonBerg)