Keith's photography can be simply described as "eye-locking" while keeping in mind there is nothing simple about his work. The richness of lights and shadows balances all grounds of Keith's collections. Spirituality can be seen in the deliberate distance or as a sublime study anywhere in most pictures. Black and white prints or color prints, regardless, audiences are given a story through one photograph. In short, Keith's photography's hold true to the saying, "A picture is worth a thousand words."

It is hard to mark the beginning of Keith's powerful gift. Keith completed his undergraduate studies with honors in photography at Columbia College Chicago, which is directly tied to the driven force of his latest creation. While attending Columbia and working full time, Keith had a life bursting at the seams as he was establishing life on his own in Chicago and actively pursuing photography. Keith would travel early in the morning, sometimes before the sun greeted the city and sometimes had only the moon and a nearly empty elevated train car as his company to take him home for a few hours of sleep. During these travels to and from his home slash creative studio Keith was struck with the beautiful contrast in lighting, which was developed between Mother Nature and man. That inspirational collaboration of natural and man-made light immediately drew Keith to want to save that moment on film. Keith excitement was overwhelming over his latest collection - Dawn to Dusk. Initially Keith used this inspiration to complete a project for school. While embarking on this project Keith realized this work can never be completed. According to Keith, "Every sunrise and sunset contains subtleties that will never be duplicated, and all these subtle moments created an opportunity for a new photograph."

In Dawn to Dusk we are graced with a series of photographs layered with shadows, manmade light, nature light and many images isolated for study to bring together one complete piece of work. Psychologically, the viewer sees a Chicago "L" platform at a calm moment, when the opposite more than likely is true. In one of the photographs in the series off in the background off to the upper left we see an electric cross; while in another from that same series we racing lights. Seldom people are seen. It is as though Keith has captured some of Chicago's "L" stops at rest. Keith does not see nor intend for Dawn to Dusk to be complicated. This series represents "peaceful images that you can just look at and enjoy, without having to try to figure out." Keith also want people who utilize the "L" for everyday transportation, visit to the city or have seen some other way to see the stops he has capture "in a different way… the angles, texture, historical and architecture values.

Keith has been featured in both cities he has called home, Indianapolis and Chicago as a solo artist and within group exhibits. Keith's work has included a collection entitled Fiber and Flesh, which deal with mixture heavy fiber rope that looked as though it could lift a car wrapped around various sections of a well-defined man. What the audience saw was an arm lightly entwined in one photograph, a torso in another, a leg in another and so on. This serious of works are not individual photographs meant to be puzzlized; they were and are mention to be individualized independent pieces of art.

Opportunities are friends of Keith's; he takes them to their fullness and makes them happen in print. This man breathes to see how all images in life can be capture. His focus is on things we take for granted as well as unusual occurrences life offers for a limited time and he blows them into full rich markers of life that has passed or what has been overlooked. He is preparing to do a serious of photographs featuring Lake Michigan.

This photographer takes his art to great extremes and attributes his inspiration for his gift and love of photography to his deep-grounded spirituality. When it comes to Keith L. Hackett, it can truly be said the birth and continuous growth of sharp-eye cutting edge work of this photographer is a force not to be ignored. If what we have seen in both Fiber and Flesh or Dawn to Dusk we are in store for another eye-catching unique experience with the Lake Michigan series. In other words, Lake Michigan will not be viewed the same after the completion of this up and coming series.


-Michael Hunter