rss
mobile
Feeds
Keyserling -- younger brother of Beaufort mayor, Billy -- is half of the upcoming show, "Scenes from Near & Far," at The Charles Street Gallery on March 12. He shows with Dataw Island watercolor artist Robert Steinmetz.
Keyserling discusses why Beaufort captures his heart and eye.
Question. How did you get into photography?
Answer. I started as a child. My parents had the option to buy a Polaroid or a camera and work in a dark room. Ned Brown, who was a local photographer, let me hang out in his dark room with him. It was just a hobby and I never really wanted to make it a profession. I graduated from college and was looking for something to do and ETV was opening up, and I was hired as a still photographer. Well, they really didn't need a still photographer and I started shooting video. So that's what I did for them for close to 28 years. I still shoot video professionally.
Q. I saw that you and your brother, Billy, were involved in illustrating Pat Conroy's "The Water is Wide."
A. That was a school project that Billy did. He didn't know much about photography and I did. So I went along as a technical adviser. He spent a week (on Daufuskie Island) and I spent a couple days there, and I did all the printing for him. He shot 30, 40 rolls of film. Those photos later appeared in ("The Water is Wide"). Pat Conroy was a teacher on the island and he was a teacher in Beaufort before that. He was a friend of my brother's.
Q. What is it about Beaufort that keeps you around?
A. If you talk to anyone from around here it's really something special to us. It's a beautiful place. I can't imagine living too far away from the water. I enjoy just looking at it, being around it. Most of my recreation is around it. I visited a lot of other places and this is the nicest I've been.
Q. Have you spent any time outside Beaufort?
A. I lived in Boston. Went to school there and stayed a while -- about six years. I liked it there. If I found a job there I might have stayed. But I was happy to come home.
Q. Is there anything in particular you like to shoot?
A. It's hard to say. Lines, light, color, shape. It could be something quite trite or mundane, things that people don't see. I do look at lines a lot, like telephone wires against the trees or sky. I used to shoot black and white but color is very seductive. But sometimes the absence of color ... can be remarkable. I don't try to make any big statement, just capture something I see.
