Robert Glenn Ketchum
Encyclopedia
Robert Glenn Ketchum is a landscape and nature photographer whose work has a strong environmental advocacy message.
and Robert Heinecken. He later received an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts
in 1974. After he graduated he began a life-long friendship with Eliot Porter
, who helped form his ideas about photography and about how photography can be used to help change the world.
In his 30-year career, Ketchum has become well known as a photographer-environmentalist. In its centennial edition, Audubon
magazine included Ketchum in their list of 100 people "who shaped the environmental movement in the 20th century." He was also listed by American Photo magazine as one of the 100 most important people in photography, as well as being named the 2001 Outstanding Photographer of the Year by the North American Nature Photography Association and Outstanding Person of the Year 2000 by Photo Media magazine.
Ketchum and his close friend master printer Michael Wilder
, pioneered Cibachrome color printmaking in the early 1970's. They were also among the first contemporary photographers to explore print scale. Ketchum's distinctive and very dimensional prints are in numerous collections including the Museum of Modern Art
(New York City), the National Museum of American Art, (Washington, D.C.), the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art
(New York City), to name a few. Significant archives of more than 100 images have been acquired by the Amon Carter Museum
in Texas and the Huntington Library in Los Angeles, and substantial bodies of work can be found at the High Museum in Atlanta, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
, the Akron Art Museum
, the Stanford University Art Museum
and the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Cornell University
.
As a curator and author, Ketchum has published with Harry N. Abrams and Viking Books, and has seven individual titles with Aperture
. Prior to his emergence as a photographer, he was a widely recognized curator, discovering the Paul Outerbridge, Jr. estate, bringing recognition to the overlooked work of James Van Der Zee
, and authoring American Photographers and the National Parks. After publication of his last title Ketchum began to concentrate on his own politically-focused projects and publications such as The Tongass: Alaska's Vanishing Rain Forest.
In 2010 American Photo magazine named Ketchum as the first conservation photographer ever to receive the Master Series distinction. In twenty years of publishing, American Photo has only designated four other photographers with the Master Series.
Ketchum has had over 400 one-man and group shows, and his photographs are in major museum collections throughout the world. He is a founding Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers
.
Life and career
As an undergraduate, Ketchum studied design at UCLA, and began his study in photography under the direction of Edmund TeskeEdmund Teske
Edmund Teske was an American photographer noted for his experimental techniques and work with the architect Frank Lloyd Wright....
and Robert Heinecken. He later received an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts
California Institute of the Arts
The California Institute of the Arts, commonly referred to as CalArts, is located in Valencia, in Los Angeles County, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the United States created specifically for students of both the visual and the...
in 1974. After he graduated he began a life-long friendship with Eliot Porter
Eliot Porter
Eliot Furness Porter was an American photographer best known for his color photographs of nature.-Early life:...
, who helped form his ideas about photography and about how photography can be used to help change the world.
In his 30-year career, Ketchum has become well known as a photographer-environmentalist. In its centennial edition, Audubon
Audubon
Audubon may refer to:* John James Audubon , French-American ornithologist, naturalist, and painter-Places in the United States:* Audubon Canyon, California* Audubon, Iowa, city* Audubon Township, Montgomery County, Illinois...
magazine included Ketchum in their list of 100 people "who shaped the environmental movement in the 20th century." He was also listed by American Photo magazine as one of the 100 most important people in photography, as well as being named the 2001 Outstanding Photographer of the Year by the North American Nature Photography Association and Outstanding Person of the Year 2000 by Photo Media magazine.
Ketchum and his close friend master printer Michael Wilder
Michael Wilder
Michael Wilder is an American chess grandmaster and a J.D graduate of the University of Michigan. FIDE awarded him the grandmaster title in 1988. He won the 1988 U.S. Chess Championship. He also tied for third in the 1987 U.S. Championship and tied for first at the 1987 London Open. Mr...
, pioneered Cibachrome color printmaking in the early 1970's. They were also among the first contemporary photographers to explore print scale. Ketchum's distinctive and very dimensional prints are in numerous collections including the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
(New York City), the National Museum of American Art, (Washington, D.C.), the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles is a contemporary art museum with three locations in greater Los Angeles, California. The main branch is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, near Walt Disney Concert Hall...
, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
(New York City), to name a few. Significant archives of more than 100 images have been acquired by the Amon Carter Museum
Amon Carter Museum
The Amon Carter Museum of American Art is located in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established by Amon G. Carter to house his collection of paintings and sculpture by Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell. Carter’s will provided a museum in Fort Worth devoted to American art.When the museum opened...
in Texas and the Huntington Library in Los Angeles, and substantial bodies of work can be found at the High Museum in Atlanta, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is an art museum in Los Angeles, California. It is located on Wilshire Boulevard along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles, adjacent to the George C. Page Museum and La Brea Tar Pits....
, the Akron Art Museum
Akron Art Museum
The Akron Art Museum is an art museum in Akron, Ohio, USA.The museum first opened its doors on February 1, 1922, as the Akron Art Institute. It was located in two borrowed rooms in the basement of the public library...
, the Stanford University Art Museum
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
and the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
.
As a curator and author, Ketchum has published with Harry N. Abrams and Viking Books, and has seven individual titles with Aperture
Aperture
In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture of an optical system is the opening that determines the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. The aperture determines how collimated the admitted rays are,...
. Prior to his emergence as a photographer, he was a widely recognized curator, discovering the Paul Outerbridge, Jr. estate, bringing recognition to the overlooked work of James Van Der Zee
James Van Der Zee
James Van Der Zee was an African American photographer best known for his portraits of black New Yorkers. He was a leading figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Aside from the artistic merits of his work, Van Der Zee produced the most comprehensive documentation of the period...
, and authoring American Photographers and the National Parks. After publication of his last title Ketchum began to concentrate on his own politically-focused projects and publications such as The Tongass: Alaska's Vanishing Rain Forest.
In 2010 American Photo magazine named Ketchum as the first conservation photographer ever to receive the Master Series distinction. In twenty years of publishing, American Photo has only designated four other photographers with the Master Series.
Ketchum has had over 400 one-man and group shows, and his photographs are in major museum collections throughout the world. He is a founding Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers
International League of Conservation Photographers
The International League of Conservation Photographers is a nonprofit organization dedicated to furthering environmental and cultural conservation through ethical photography...
.
Selected awards and honors
- The Ansel Adams Award for Conservation Photography, 1989 – given by the Sierra ClubSierra ClubThe Sierra Club is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...
; a career award "for effectively combining outstanding photography with conservation advocacy." - The United NationsUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Outstanding Environmental Achievement Award, 1991 – "For outstanding practical achievements in the protection and improvement of the environment" - Golden Light Awards/Photographic Book of the Year Competition, 1994 – for The Legacy Of Wildness: The Photographs of Robert Glenn Ketchum
- ChevronChevron CorporationChevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation headquartered in San Ramon, California, United States and active in more than 180 countries. It is engaged in every aspect of the oil, gas, and geothermal energy industries, including exploration and production; refining,...
– Times Mirror Magazines Conservation Awards, 1995 - Lifetime Achievement Award in Photography and Conservation 2002 – given by the Aperture FoundationAperture FoundationThe Aperture Foundation was founded in 1952 by Ansel Adams, Minor White, Barbara Morgan, Dorothea Lange, Nancy Newhall, Beaumont Newhall, Ernest Louie, Melton Ferris, and Dody Warren. Their vision was to create a forum for fine art photography, a new concept at the time. The first issue of...
of New York
Works
- Rohrbach, John and Robert Glenn Ketchum. Regarding the Land: Robert Glenn Ketchum and the Legacy of Eliot Porter. Amon Carter Museum, 2006.
- Cahn, Robert and Robert Glenn Ketchum. American Photographers and the National Parks. Viking Press, Inc., New York, NY, 1981.
- Ketchum, Robert Glenn. The Hudson River and the Highlands. Aperture, New York, NY, 1985.
- Ketchum, Robert Glenn and Carey D. The Tongass: Alaska’s Vanishing Rain Forest. Aperture, New York, NY, 1987.
- Callison, Charles and Robert Glenn Ketchum. Overlooked in America: The Success and Failure of Federal Land Management. Aperture, New York, NY, 1991.
- Ketchum, Robert Glenn, and John Perlin. The Legacy of Wildness: The Photographs of Robert Glenn Ketchum. Aperture, New York, NY, 1993.
- various authors and photographers. Tatshenshini River Wild. Raincoast Books, Vancouver, BC, 1993.
- Ketchum, Robert Glenn and Barry Lopez. Northwest Passage. Aperture, New York, NY, 1996.
- Hampton, Bruce and Robert Glenn Ketchum. Rivers of Life: Southwest Alaska, The Last Great Salmon Fishery. Aperture, New York, NY, 2001.
- Ketchum, Robert Glenn, and Bill Sherwonit. Wood-Tikchik: Alaska’s Largest State Park. Aperture, New York, NY, 2003.
- Ketchum, Robert Glenn. Wind River Winderness. Laguna Wilderness Press, Laguna Beach, CA, 2006.
Selected exhibitions
- May 2010— Robert Glenn Ketchum: A Life in Photography, The G2 Gallery, Venice, CA
- September 2008— Robert Glenn Ketchum: A Life Well Lived, 40 Years in the Making, The G2 Gallery, Venice, CA