Influences: Andrew Wyeth

The influence of painter Andrew Wyeth on the work of fine art photographer Keith Dotson

I became captivated with the work of Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009) not long after graduating from art school, when his entire secret body of work known as "The Helga Pictures," became public. I bought the book and poured over Wyeth's remarkable paintings and drawings.

The Helga pictures were my entrée into Wyeth's out-of-fashion — but oh-so-lovely — landscape representations of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. To me his work seemed quiet, contemplative, maybe a little sad. Even though I have long been a fan of Wyeth's spare and lonesome landscape images, I only recently realized how much my own photographs have in common with his work.

"I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape - the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn't show"

—Andrew Wyeth

I would never compare my work to the genius of someone like Wyeth, but as can be seen in the samples below, his influence is clear and our sensibilities are very similar. Keep in mind, none of these photographs were intended to replicate a work by Wyeth.