Ketchum Porter PR

For Immediate Release Press Contact: Sandy Scott Director of Marketing [email protected] 770-387-2833 Robert Glenn Ketchum & Eliot Porter: On Seeing Color On exhibit at the Booth Western Art Museum March 7 – July 26, 2020 Come see the vibrant, large-scale color photography of Robert Glenn Ketchum (b. 1947), alongside intimate photographs by his mentor, and one of the pioneers of early color photography, Eliot Porter (1901 – 1990). The skills, artistry, and challenges both artists faced in producing color photography of American landscape and wildlife can be seen in each piece. The exhibition will open to the public on March 7. Booth Museum members are invited to the ceremonial exhibition opening on March 7 beginning at 1:30 pm with a gallery walk through the exhibition with Booth Museum’s Curator of Photography Samuel Gerace III followed by a reception at 2:30 pm and a lecture in Bergman Theatre at 3:30 pm. The two artists have a long-shared history. Porter is often called the “Ansel Adams of color photography” and was born several months before Adams. Porter also worked with the Sierra Club, who published his photographs of Glen Canyon before the area was lost forever due to the construction of a dam. Porter’s images inspired others and even helped to get Congress to pass the Wilderness Act of 1964. The two men met when Ketchum was attending UCLA. Ketchum’s photography teacher Robert Heinecken suggested that he reach out to Porter about his questions on color and photography. Porter responded to Ketchum’s letters and the two began a lifelong friendship after Ketchum’s graduation. The images of each artist are striking, but Ketchum reminds us that they are more than “just pretty pictures.” Ketchum and Porter intentionally created works for environmental advocacy, using color and scale to galvanize their audiences. Perhaps these images may continue to motivate others by showing the breathtaking beauty and scale of the American landscape and the importance of protecting it before it is lost. MORE

Page 2 The Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas and the Collection of Judith and Peter M. Wach, Wach Gallery, Avon Lake, Ohio, have graciously loaned Porter’s photographs, which were personally selected by Ketchum. About Booth Western Art Museum Booth Western Art Museum, an Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, is a 120,000 square foot museum located in Cartersville, Georgia, where guests are invited to See America’s Story through contemporary Western artwork, a Presidential Gallery, Civil War art gallery, and Sagebrush Ranch, an interactive children’s gallery. Open since August 2003, Booth Museum is the only museum of its kind in the Southeast and was named the 2016 Escape to the Southeast Travel Attraction of the Year by the Southeast Tourism Society. To learn more about Booth Museum, visit www.boothmuseum.org. ###