Douglas R Keister's Blog
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Nov.23.2011
In 1990 I published a book titled Black Rock: Portraits on the Playa in the Black Rock Desert in Northern Nevada. People familiar with the playa of the Black Rock Desert know it is the site of Burning Man. I photographed Black Rock: Portraits on the Playa before Burning Man arrived full-force.
The...
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Sep.08.2011
I just received an email from Redroom editor Huntington Sharp imploring me to blog about Italy. Specifically my most vivid memory of Italy. I suspect he and his minions are anticipating a plethora of postings about pizza in Piza and milliners in Milan and romance in Roma. And of course all...
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Sep.07.2011
I killed a guy last month. Let me explain.
His name was Emil. Emil Duarte. He had lived for a good long time, 90 years in fact. And he really shouldn’t have been driving. But there he was, piloting his red, green and white (the colors of the Basque flag) 1947 Ford pickup down South Bridge...
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Aug.25.2011
Domestic Bliss
I’m superficial. Let me explain.
A few Saturdays back, as my wife was leaving to go grocery shopping, I announced that in her absence I would clean the house. Understandably my gregarious statement stopped her dead in her tracks.
She pivoted towards me and said, “Thanks, that’s very...
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Aug.18.2011
Anyone who transitions from kidhood to adulthood loses their innocence. For most folks, I suppose it’s a gradual thing. Losing innocence is not the same as becoming a rebellious teenager. Most parents rue the day when their charming child went to bed as a sweetness and light angel and woke...
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Apr.21.2011
Death and Taxes? I can’t do much about either. After having authored five books on cemeteries, I’ll take on death.
I’m living on borrowed time. Let me explain.
I was born smack-dab in the middle of the last century (yes, I’m one of those ding-dang baby boomers you’re all sick of hearing about)....
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Apr.12.2011
I miss The Hump. Let me explain.
I grew up in Lincoln, Neb., a town not unlike Chico. Lincoln had a rural/city atmosphere like Chico and a thriving university. My two brothers and I were among thousands of free-range baby boomer kids who roamed the newly minted postwar neighborhoods.
We were...
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Apr.08.2011
Dog Gone
I’m pining for canines. Let me explain.
A few months back I visited my friends Gary and Susan Allwardt. Before we could get to the usual social pleasantries, I was greeted by Wilson. Wilson is the latest addition to the Allwardt family. He is a used dog of suspect provenance that Gary and...
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Mar.17.2011
Thirty years, twelve days, four hours, seventeen minutes and three seconds ago I was strapped on a gurney in the emergency room in a hospital in Richmond, California. Steps away a woman wailed when she was told that her child had died of a gunshot wound. People in white lab coats scurried around me...
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Mar.06.2011
One of the most important events in my early life as a photographer occurred in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1965, when I chanced upon a clutch of over 280 5"x7" glass plate negatives. Glass plate negatives? Before digital images and even before film, images were often captured on...
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Jan.06.2011
Santa bestowed me with an iPad. At first I thought the Jolly Old Elf had imbibed in a bit too much celebratory nog. After all, I’ve got a Mac laptop, two Mac desktops, a PC desktop, a BlackBerry, a Gameboy and a Wii. Do I really need another electronic device? Well, it turns out I do. Although the...
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Dec.23.2010
I understand that the holidays are the time when traditional staples like turkey and ham take center stage. And many families highlight foods that celebrate their culture. This is all well and good, but what the holiday table should really feature are comfort foods. And none is better that a jiggly...
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Dec.17.2010
Redroom's Gina Misiroglu just hit another one out of the park for me by getting one of my articles placed on the AOL News Opinion page TODAY. AOL news gets 25 MILLION unique views per month.
Here's the beginning of my article on going to cemeteries to cure the holiday blues and a link to continue...
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Oct.27.2010
I guess being a niche (pun intended) author has its rewards. Today I turned in the manuscript (400 photographs and 60,000 words) for my 39th book, Forever New York: A Field Guide to New York Cemeteries and Their Residents (pub date fall 2011). Forever New York is my 5th cemetery related book.
...
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Sep.23.2010
Many communities have a signature event that sets them apart from others. It's their claim to fame. Their annual extravaganza. Events range from mega-productions like the long-running flowery flotilla, the Tournament of Roses in Pasadena, California to the testosterone fueled Run-A-Mucca...
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About Douglas
Photographer-writer Douglas Keister, has authored and co-authored thirty-nine critically acclaimed books. He also writes and illustrates magazine articles and contributes photographs and essays to dozens of magazines, newspapers, books, calendars, posters and...
Connections
Causes Douglas Keister Supports
American Forests: http://www.americanforests.org/...