Profile Keith Cardwell, CubaWelcome Photo tour leader
CubaWelcome Photo tour leader.
Freelance Photographer - 1978 to Present
- Commissioned in the UK and around the world for portraiture, industrial, still life and commercial.
- Photography for a wide variety of magazines, childcare agencies, promotional and commercial organizations and general clients.
September 1995 - June 1999
- Professor of Photo-Journalism/Special Projects Photographer/Exhibition Curator. Communication Department, Savannah College of Art and Design, Georgia, USA.
In 1995 I was working regularly for magazines and various newspapers. The offer from Savannah College of Art and Design helped me develop my curator/exhibition skills. I organized and curated first Alberto Diaz Korda exhibition in the USA. Although no embargo exists on Cuban 'Art' in the USA, I had to struggle with the hostility on both sides. The experience called on all my learned skills on handling people. I felt the resulting show was a landmark in cultural exchange, something I had been working towards since the Chinese experience several years earlier.
Since leaving the College, I have travelled extensively throughout the USA, Cuba, Ireland and Europe promoting 'Cuba Si' (the Cuban photography exhibition I organized in London), making photographs, writing for 'Black and White' magazine and lecturing.
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS
First living British photographer to exhibit in Havana, Cuba.
Major retrospective of 50 years of Cuban Photography - 'Cuba Si' at the Royal National Theatre, London. September - November 2000 - 'Cuba Si' exhibited at four other UK locations.
Telfair Museum of Art, Savannah - purchase of 45 prints for their archive.
Cowboys & Indians Magazine, Santa Fe - 'Along the English Frontier' photo-essay.
Photo Art International - Cover and seven pages.
Ten one-man exhibitions at various galleries including two six week shows at the Ilford Gallery, London, W1.
Six competition prizes, including Portfolio prizes in the South Bank Festival of Photography, London 1990-1995.
Honorary Professorship from Guangxi Province University, China. Lecturer in Fine Arts for one month periods, 1988-1994.
Adviser to the Children's Palace, Guilin, China, 1992.
Named 'Fellow Villager' by the Mayor of Guilin City.
Conceived, designed and produced a book titled
'Cradle of Prodigies' published in China, 1994.
Tutor of landscape photography on Photography Workshops, France 1988-1993.
Contributed cover and major articles in 'The British Journal of Photography'.
'Leica Fotografia' magazine, Germany. Six pages in four languages, featuring the First African Baptist Church, Savannah, Georgia.
Photography Officer for the Greenwich Arts; grants and awards. 1987-1990.
Annual Lecture at the Gallery of Photography, Dublin, Ireland, 1998.
AG Magazine, cover and six pages, February 2002 'Aspects of Childhood'.
'Black and White Photography' magazine. Articles on the Cuban experience. Alberto Diaz Korda and Flamenco stories.
October 2001 and January 2002. Ireland's Bill Doyle 2003
ASSIGNMENTS
Extensive photography of children for 'Be My Parent' magazine, published by the British Agency for Adoption and Fostering.
Publicity and public relations work throughout the UK for the Catholic Children's Society, 1980-1995.
Photography for 'The Guardian' and 'The Observer' newspapers and magazines.
Working with photo editors for a wide variety of magazines. Assignments have comprised 10 visits to mainland China, as well as travel to Tibet, Europe, USA, Russia, Mexico, Ireland and Cuba.
Curator and organiser of photographic exhibitions.
EXHIBITIONS - ONE-MAN SHOWS:
Flamenco and recent work. Plaza del Armas, Havana, Cuba
Flamenco Dancers. Cafe Metropole, Savannah, Georgia
Sidcup Cowboys. West Bank Gallery, Savannah, Georgia
Race Against Time. Hales Gallery, London
East Enders. Greenwich Festival, London
China photography. Neal Street, London
Colour Work. Ilford Gallery, London
Black & White work. Ilford Gallery, London
Celebrations - China photographs. Citizen's Gallery, London
Ireland photographs. Gallery on the Heath, London
OTHER EXHIBITIONS
Cuba project. Working closely with Alberto Diaz Korda on his first American show and the 'Cuba Si' opening at The National Theatre, September 2000.
Peopling London -Museum of London, Barbican Centre, London
First African Baptist Church - Savannah, Georgia. Extensive photo-essay on the oldest Black church in North America and its community. Exhibition featured in Atlanta during the Olympics, 1996, and at Photofusion Gallery, London, 1997.
Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum - Savannah, Georgia. Permanent exhibition on the African-American experience.
Dr Martin Luther King Junior Observance Day Parade - exhibition and catalogue. Photo-documentary students and myself.
The National Trust Guide to Savannah, Roulhac Toledano. Worked with writer and Historic Preservation Society to photograph architectural treasures in Savannah.
Beach Institute. African-American Cultural Centre. Commissioned by Director Carroll Green to produce an exhibition on the Ulysess Davis sculpture collection.
1996 Olympic Yachting Events Project. Organised three MA graduate students and myself to cover the sailing events in Savannah, Georgia. Permanent exhibition and book.
Atlanta Ballet. Photographs from a five month project. 'Backstage' exhibited in Fox Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia.
Savannah Jazz Festival. Students and myself photographing the events of the Jazz Weekend in Savannah. Exhibition 95 pieces.
Amish Project. Photography of Amish community, South Carolina, 1997-98.
Organised and curated the Burt Glinn exhibition (senior Magnum photographer) at the Fototeca du Cuba, January 2001.
Writing for Black and White magazine - critiques on photographers and their work.