Literary Arts Presents the Portland Book Festival Portland Oregon

Still Life in a Time of Sequestration, Part 2

As we isolate ourselves, photographer K.B. Dixon finds beauty in the splendid solitude of ordinary things.

May 6, 2020

K.B. Dixon

Culture, Photography

TEXT AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY K.B. DIXON

It has been a month and a half and I am still here sequestered, hiding from an angry-looking microbe. The people I am sequestered with are still not interested in being photographed, and the places I am sequestered in still remain private rather than public—so, as a photographer trying to stay photographically fit, I am obliged to continue focusing my attention on the mystery and charm of “things.” For instance, yesterday morning I discovered—as if for the first time—the raw materials of my breakfast. Today it was a pair of bookends that, when on the job, keep a heavy, three-volume set of Edward Gibbon’s The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire standing upright on a chest of drawers. (Note to self: Consider re-reading. Somehow the time seems right.)

EGGS, 2020

STEEL TULIP (POGAN), 2020

HONEYDEW, 2020

PINECONES, 2020

CANDLE, 2020

COFFEE MUG, 2020

BOOKENDS, 2020

VASE, 2020

DECOY, 2020

WOOD CARVING (MAWEMA), 2020

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Still Life in a Time of Sequestration, Part 1: More images from K.B. Dixon’s journey around his home.

K.B. Dixon

K.B. Dixon’s work has appeared in numerous magazines, newspapers, and journals. His most recent collection of stories, Artifacts: Irregular Stories (Small, Medium, and Large), was published in Summer 2022. The recipient of an OAC Individual Artist Fellowship Award, he is the winner of both the Next Generation Indie Book Award and the Eric Hoffer Book Award. He is the author of seven novels: The Sum of His Syndromes, Andrew (A to Z), A Painter’s Life, The Ingram Interview, The Photo Album, Novel Ideas, and Notes as well as the essay collection Too True, Essays on Photography, and the short story collection, My Desk and I. Examples of his photographic work may be found in private collections, juried exhibitions, online galleries, and at K.B. Dixon Images.

Laura Ross-Paul says:

May 6, 2020 at 9:33 am

Wow Ken- These are so beautiful.
Sounds like the Shut-Down order has helped you see that.
Thanks for sharing.