Bob Keefer makes hand-colored photographs — one-of-a-kind works that begin as black-and-white images printed on fine art paper, then brought to life with hand-applied acrylics. The practice has deep historical roots; hand coloring dates to the earliest years of photography in the 1830s.
Keefer’s interest lies in the tension between the two mediums. Photography is cool and precise; painting is emotional and expressive. In each piece, these two sensibilities meet, complement each other, and sometimes push against each other — producing work that is neither photograph nor painting but something distinctly its own.
After the Ice Storm 2025.1 – Inkjet print and acrylic on canvas. 22×55 inches
I am represented by Mindpower Gallery in Reedsport, Oregon.
You can also find my work at the Karin Clarke Gallery in Eugene and at Studio 7 in Veneta, Oregon.
Forest Fawn 2023.78
What others say
“Looking at his art is a little like being out in the woods with a trusted friend who points you toward something you hadn’t noticed — delicate candy cap mushrooms beneath a hemlock or a large-eyed northern spotted owl on a fir branch just feet above your head, a something that catches your breath and fills you with wonder.”
— Susan Palmer, Oregon ArtsWatch
“The substrate of this spooky image of the familiar trees and stumps made strange by fog is a black and white photograph. But that is just the starting point for Keefer — he then gets out his paints and brushes and goes to work layering washes and glazes of color onto the photo. The overall effect really drew me into his world, one that seems to both critique the logging industry and to praise the regenerative power of the forest.”
— Sandy Brown Jensen on Viz City, KLCC radio
“You get the feeling, looking at Keefer’s art, and his Substack account—Bob Keefer’s Paint and Photography—that he doesn’t take where he lives for granted, not even after nearly four decades there.”
— Ester Barkai, Oregon ArtsWatch
“With ‘Fire and Ice’, Keefer uses his artistic process to reimagine woodlands that have been left ruined by climate-driven disasters such as wildfires. The hand-coloring lends the photos an eerie, ethereal quality.
— Andrew Griffin, Roseburg (Oregon) News-Review