Beth Dow ( born 1965), raised in Minneapolis. Child of a photographer and filmmaker.Beth grew up in the darkroom watching her dad create. She started taking her own pictures at 12 years old and eventually ended up going to college and getting a BA in studio art. She moved to London, lived there for 8 years and met a man she ended up marrying. She with husband Keith Taylor ( who is also a Master Print maker and makes all her prints) have moved back to MN.
Her husband uses platinum palladium to produce her prints, which Beth says "These pictures extend the moment when I first glimpse something extraordinary – that purely sensory moment before things make sense. At their most basic, gardens are an idealized assembly of natural elements, and my photographs take this one step further to create a new ideal – one that exists only in the platinum and paper.”
I really like the feel of these pictures, the tonal quality is very nice - I'm sure due to the fact of the processing. They have a very mystical feel to them, almost ( Fabelhaven-esk, feel to them - that is a fantasy/mystical book - that I'm currently reading to my 10 year old ) They really are simple, but feel spooky and strange. I like them. I think it's refreshing to see images that are weird and that make you think something spooky is going on without actually seeing the Gore and Gruesomeness that so often plagues pictures - I just feel that it can be achieved with out being so literal/in your face.
Beth has had a number of solo shows and group shows. She was also the recipient of a $25,000 fellowship from the Barry McKnight Foundation, which helped her do the Garden series of photos.
Her website: www.http://bethdow.com/fieldwork.html
A neat Video about 3 MN Photographers ( including Beth Dow )
Great post - Dow gave a talk here at RCTC a few years ago and it was terrific.
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