Keith Carter: Ghostlight | PDNB Gallery
Keith Carter, Swamp Moon, 2016, Courtesy of PDNB Gallery, Dallas TX
Written by Makenna Karas
Photo Edited by Kit Matthews
Extraterrestrial exploration has a strong grip on humanity. We want to know what is out there, what it looks like, and what it means. But what about the mysteries that lurk right under our nose, here on earth? For artist Keith Carter, the misty swamps of Texas contain every ounce of intrigue as the surface of Mars. They are haunting, desolate, places that offer transport into another world, one that is far from the chaotic rat race of contemporary society. Documenting his experience of perceiving them, Carter’s otherworldly series, “Ghostlight,” is on display from December 2 through February 10 at the Photographs Do Not Bend Gallery in Dallas, Texas.
Keith Carter, Starry Night, 2021, Courtesy of PDNB Gallery, Dallas, TX
The extraterrestrial is alluring because it offers transport, out of this world and into one where our problems shrink from reach. When you stare up at the moon, you feel miniscule. Carter channels that sensation in “Swamp Moon”, where he plays with imagery of the moon as it appears in the swamps of Texas. In the shot, half visible and half hidden, Carter positions exposure in juxtaposition with shadow, revealing certain things while keeping others out of reach. In doing so, he invites an indulgence of the senses, where you are here on earth, but also light years away. It is that offering of transport to another world that Carter pinpoints as the locus of his interest within this series.
Keith Carter, Angelina, 2021, Courtesy of PDNB Gallery, Dallas, TX
The collection further captures and preserves that escape, offering spooky landscapes that magnetize the eye, promising folklore and mystery with each enshrouded shot. You cannot help but feel a draft on your neck as you look at “Starry Night,” where a lone car is driving down a dark road, overshadowed by blackened trees and a cratered sky. There is a chilling sense of isolation to the shot, where you feel the loneliness of the car, careening down a darkening road directly into the uncanny. In this way, the car can be ingested as a microcosm for each of us, navigating our own roads through a world we will never understand completely.
Keith Carter, Rookery Study #3, 2019, Courtesy of PDNB Gallery, Dallas, TX
Carter speaks to that uncertainty by explaining that “There isn’t always a coherent narrative.” Still, it is instead about “paying attention to what is around us and the significance that can be found in it.” He invites you to take a shot like “Angelina”, and simply revel in the unsolvable mystery that it offers. Gazing at the body of water, notice how the surface becomes a one-way mirror, with you standing on one side, gazing at a reflection while eerily sensing that secrets are staring back at you from on the other end. We can’t know those secrets, but we can marvel at the existence of them. We can accept them as the grander narrative that our little lives are suspended within. In doing so, we might arrive at a new appreciation of the one world we already have, breathing beneath our feet.
