Photographer Keith Dotson speaks about abandoned places photography at MTSU
Video: Watch my full speech given at MTSU on June 25, 2025
I recently had the great honor of speaking to an engaged and curious audience of about 50 people on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University. I was invited to present a photography-based topic as “edutainment” for the group, which was a general interest audience rather than a group of keen enthusiast photographers.
I decided to focus on Tennessee locations and to include history as well as photography.
The title of the presentation was “Shooting History: Abandoned Places Photography in Tennessee.”
It focused not only on various aspects of photography and how I like to work, but also on the histories of endangered places I consider to be important or interesting historically.
The discussion includes included these historic sites:
- Wheland Foundry & U.S. Pipe in Chattanooga
- Old Jefferson
- Adams, Tennessee
- Reliance, Tennessee
- Hamilton-Lay General Store in Union County
- Hollow Rock, Tennessee
- W. Eli Tillman House
- Old Farmhouse and Barn at Henry Horton State Park
- Water Valley, Tennessee
- Old Country Store and Civil War Muster Point near Lynchburg
- Abandoned Car at Tims Ford State Park
- M.E. Trew General Merchandise Store
I rarely speak in public, but I worked hard on this presentation for three months, carefully crafting the slide show, and writing hundreds of speaker notes.
The audience members were kind, attentive, and responsive, making it a fun experience! As I said in the opening of the speech, I’m much more comfortable on a back road or in the woods than in front of an audience.
Would You Like to Invite Keith to Present this Speech to Your Group or Organization?
As I said above, I worked hard for months to build this presentation and I’d be happy to present it again to your Tennessee-based group or organization. It runs about an hour but could be edited to last 30 or 35 minutes plus additional time for Q&A.
If you’d be interested in inviting me to give this presentation to your group, contact me.
Note: There may be a fee for travel expenses and to cover my time.
I previously gave a different talk to the Professional Photographers of Middle Tennessee. That presentation can be watched below.