I'm Celebrating 20 Years as a Photographer This Year

And recognizing 20 amazing years with a new retrospective book

The cover of my new boo, Keith Dotson: 20 Years of Photography. Scroll down to learn more about the book or click here to buy a copy. — The cover of my new boo, *Keith Dotson: 20 Years of Photography*. Scroll down to learn more about the book or click here to buy a copy.

This year I’m recognizing 20 years of the ‘accidental’ career that has completely consumed my artistic life.

Photography has become an all-consuming passion that occupies my mind every day. I love making photographs. I love talking about photography. I love learning about the historic processes and collecting old photos. I love printing photographs. I love it all.

But it all started almost by accident.

Although I actually started learning photography in high school — which was WAY longer than 20 years ago — it wasn’t until 2005, at age 42, that I finally began dedicating myself to the art photography in a deliberate way.

The only known photograph of me in my high school darkroom -- a converted restroom -- where I worked as a staff photographer for the school newspaper and yearbook. Circa 1978 - 79. — The only known photograph of me in my high school darkroom — a converted restroom — where I worked as a staff photographer for the school newspaper and yearbook. Circa 1978 – 79.

Art school

After high school I went to art school where I learned art but mostly focused on acquiring the skills necessary to qualify for work as a professional graphic designer. There was one very basic photography class.

A contact sheet from one of the class projects from my photography class in high school. Note that the Kodak Safety Film 5062 was Plus X, a 125 ISO film that was unfortunately discontinued in 2011.

A color slide from Houston, circa 1982, created as part of an art school photo project.

A scan from another slide taken in Houston, this one showing my reflection in the mirror as I snapped the photo -- all hair and camera lens. Who could have guessed that all that hair would one day vanish? — A scan from another slide taken in Houston, this one showing my reflection in the mirror as I snapped the photo — all hair and camera lens. Who could have guessed that all that hair would one day vanish?

Here's a photo of me living in Houston during my art school years (early 1980s). That's the Canon AT-1 and Canon FD 135mm lens, a Christmas gift from my parents while I was still in high school. — Here’s a photo of me living in Houston during my art school years (early 1980s). That’s the Canon AT-1 and Canon FD 135mm lens, a Christmas gift from my parents while I was still in high school.

Career as an art director: Photography was just an afterthought

After art school, I started working in the advertising industry as a graphic designer. After a few years, I was promoted to Art Director, and eventually, I was a Creative Director. A career as a visual communicator incorporates lots of photography, and I worked with many pro commercial photographers, but my own photography was relegated to drug store prints of family events and occasionally using a snapshot as reference material for the drawings and paintings I made in my free time.

While working as a professional art director during the day, I would use my photographs as reference for drawings and paintings in my free time. Above: a photograph I shot in India in 1989, with a watercolor based on the photo made in 1994.

The art I was making in my free time was sometimes good, but it was inconsistent, varying widely in style and quality. I wasn’t able to settle on a signature style or even a singular medium.

My first digital camera: a 3.3 MP Olympus Camedia C-3000 Zoom.

The advent of affordable digital cameras around the year 2000 made a big difference in the development of my skills as a photographer, allowing a lot more shooting practice without the costs of film processing.

2005: A life-changing trip and photo

By 2005, I had been working for more than 20 years as a graphic designer, I had gone through a rough divorce, I was broke, and needed a restart. Since my kids were away with their mother, I scraped together enough money to make a holiday trip to Boston. This is the event that changed my life.

I returned with a card full of mostly mediocre digital photos taken in Boston and Cambridge, but some of them were pretty good. A few of them I still keep as part of my portfolio. But one of them transformed my life as an artist.

This photograph of the Weld Boathouse at Harvard is almost single-handedly responsible for my giving up drawing and painting as my art media of choice.

Maybe this photo doesn’t seem so impressive to you, but it struck a chord with me. The tones, the mood, the reflection — I really enjoyed it, and I used it as a model for other photos.

This the point where I stopped messing around with paint brushes and focused on photography. But I had a lot to learn.

The art of photography is about more than simply making photographs. It’s a way of life. For photographers, it’s the life of a seeker.

Photography provides means of processing the world through a lens with a particular viewpoint and sensibility, and then translating your interpretations back to the world with a unique and irrepressible voice.

Photography creates an insatiable hunger for seeking out stimuli — the places, people, and things that energize your creative urge. The more the hunger for the stimulus is fed, the more it grows.

That’s what happened to me in 2005, when I discovered my passion of photography.

2007: My first sales of photographic prints

By 2007, I was producing enough work that a friend recommended that I set up a shop on Etsy, a platform I’d never heard about. After investigating it, and with a lot of trepidation, I opened a seller’s account. All I really hoped for was to make a few bucks to help pay for more camera gear.

Fearing I’d be laughed off the Internet due to my incompetence with a camera, instead I was greeted with my first-ever photo sales and positive reviews.

With baby steps, my career as a “professional fine art photographer” was launched.

Below, a sampling of reviews from my old Etsy page, which is inactive but still online.

Celebrating this milestone year with a retrospective book in multiple formats

The two decades since then seem to have flown by! But the proof of them lives in the pages of my new book, Keith Dotson: 20 years of Photography.

Available in three versions: Hardcover edition, softcover, and digital download

A photo of the hardcover edition of Keith Dotson's new book, Keith Dotson: 20 Years of Photography. — A photo of the hardcover edition of Keith Dotson’s new book, Keith Dotson: 20 Years of Photography.

Back cover of Keith Dotson's new book, Keith Dotson: 20 Years of Photography, with a portrait of Keith in the field by Teena Young. — Back cover of Keith Dotson’s new book, Keith Dotson: 20 Years of Photography, with a portrait of Keith in the field by Teena Young.

A spread from the new book, Keith Dotson: 20 Years of Photography.

Keith Dotson’s book, 20 Years of Photography, offers a career retrospective that chronologically covers a 20-year time span, from the year 2005, when he fully committed himself to photography as his art medium of choice. Divided into four blocks of time, the book covers Keith’s career highlights and milestones while following his work in the order it was created, from the early years until 2025.

Hardcover books purchased from my website come with a bonus 5 x 7-inch print of the Weld Boathouse photo shot in 2005 (not available with books bought directly from Blurb).

Available in hardcover and softcover editions:

Published March 2025
80 pages
Hardcover edition comes with a glossy dust jacket
8 x 10 inches landscape orientation
Perfect bound
Beautifully printed
Flat-rate shipping within the U.S.
Signed by Keith (only on copies purchased from this website)

* * Please allow a few weeks for delivery by mail.

Softcover edition of the book Keith Dotson: 20 Years of Photography — Softcover edition of the book *Keith Dotson: 20 Years of Photography*

Available at a lower price directly from the publisher

Buy Keith Dotson’s book, 20 Years of Photography directly from Blurb

Due to current market conditions and the costs of paper and shipping, both versions of these printed books are quite expensive.

Books sold directly by the publisher (Blurb) are currently offered at a lower price, but those will ship directly to you from Blurb, and will not be signed by Keith and will not include the bonus print of the Weld Boathouse.

In addition to being quite pricey, by their nature, printed books have limited space and page count. It was necessary to leave out information and photographs that I really wanted to show you.

So, I have also offered an enhanced and expanded digital download version (PDF).

Digital download version

A specially redesigned digital downloadable PDF version is available immediately for $7.99. It included 195 pages, and many more photographs that couldn’t be squeezed into the printed versions.

Buy the digital download here.

Specially designed for digital screens, this high-resolution PDF contains more pages, more background info, and many more photos.

Not ready to stop now

I’m now 61 years old, but I’m not ready to retire or even slow down. I still awaken every day excited by what possibilities photography may bring.

Thanks for reading!

Keith