Lowell Anson Kenyon
September 20, 1934 — November 25, 2011
Lowell Anson Kenyon
Lowell Anson Kenyon
Maryland Fine Art Photographer Made Lasting Impact on Washington Area Photography Scene
Lowell Anson Kenyon passed away on Friday, November 25, 2011 at home. He was 77. Lowell was born in Washington, D.C. on September 20, 1934, and moved to Bethesda, Maryland in 1941.
After a romantic long-distance courtship, Lowell married Helga Knoppel of Frankfurt, Germany in 1962. Their marriage of nearly 50 years produced a daughter, Christine and a son, West.
Lowell served as the Chief of the Office of Photography for the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery and National Collection of Fine Art from 1969-1975. In 1975 he left the Smithsonian to pursue his passion for teaching and writing. Lowell's career in teaching fine art photography included the University of Maryland, the Maryland College of Art and Design, and the Heights Study Center.
The Latent Image Workshop (LIW), his crowning achievement, was founded in 1976. During its hay day, LIW was one of the most critically acclaimed photographic organizations in the D.C. area, and may have been the largest, with 300 nearly members.
Lowell's LIW featured some of the largest exhibits by amateur fine art photographers to ever show in the D.C. area, some boasting over 1,000 framed prints. Among the dozens of exhibits were the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, the World Trade Center Baltimore, University Club of Washington, Arts Club of Washington, Rockville Municipal Art Gallery, and the Audubon Naturalist Society.
Lowell continued LIW until 2007, when he retired at the age of 74. The subjects of most of Lowell's award winning and published work came from mid-Atlantic area. He had a passion for preserving history through his lens. In one of his later articles he wrote, "But sadly, the quintessential is seen as quaint, uninspiring and unwanted; perhaps unnatural, indenable and undiscoverable - all because we're an indifferent society. If it's not modern, then it must be maudlin, meaningless and without merit. We mistake real character for lack of savoir-faire. We're so preoccupied with the trendy, the new, the now, and in our jadedness we lose sight of the enduring, the endangered, and the long forgotten. We seem to forget - there really was a time before "our time." And I think it high time we begin to remember it."
The late Lowell Kenyon will be honored by colleagues, students, and family for his 40-year contribution to fine art photography in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area on April 21, 2012 at a private event.
Survivors include his wife Helga, his two children - Christine, of Draper, UT and West, of Phoenix, AZ, and two grandchildren.
A private interment will take place in Beallsville, MD on April 21, 2012. The family asks that any donations go to the Alzheimer's Foundation of America.
Maryland Fine Art Photographer Made Lasting Impact on Washington Area Photography Scene
Lowell Anson Kenyon passed away on Friday, November 25, 2011 at home. He was 77. Lowell was born in Washington, D.C. on September 20, 1934, and moved to Bethesda, Maryland in 1941.
After a romantic long-distance courtship, Lowell married Helga Knoppel of Frankfurt, Germany in 1962. Their marriage of nearly 50 years produced a daughter, Christine and a son, West.
Lowell served as the Chief of the Office of Photography for the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery and National Collection of Fine Art from 1969-1975. In 1975 he left the Smithsonian to pursue his passion for teaching and writing. Lowell's career in teaching fine art photography included the University of Maryland, the Maryland College of Art and Design, and the Heights Study Center.
The Latent Image Workshop (LIW), his crowning achievement, was founded in 1976. During its hay day, LIW was one of the most critically acclaimed photographic organizations in the D.C. area, and may have been the largest, with 300 nearly members.
Lowell's LIW featured some of the largest exhibits by amateur fine art photographers to ever show in the D.C. area, some boasting over 1,000 framed prints. Among the dozens of exhibits were the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, the World Trade Center Baltimore, University Club of Washington, Arts Club of Washington, Rockville Municipal Art Gallery, and the Audubon Naturalist Society.
Lowell continued LIW until 2007, when he retired at the age of 74. The subjects of most of Lowell's award winning and published work came from mid-Atlantic area. He had a passion for preserving history through his lens. In one of his later articles he wrote, "But sadly, the quintessential is seen as quaint, uninspiring and unwanted; perhaps unnatural, indenable and undiscoverable - all because we're an indifferent society. If it's not modern, then it must be maudlin, meaningless and without merit. We mistake real character for lack of savoir-faire. We're so preoccupied with the trendy, the new, the now, and in our jadedness we lose sight of the enduring, the endangered, and the long forgotten. We seem to forget - there really was a time before "our time." And I think it high time we begin to remember it."
The late Lowell Kenyon will be honored by colleagues, students, and family for his 40-year contribution to fine art photography in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area on April 21, 2012 at a private event.
Survivors include his wife Helga, his two children - Christine, of Draper, UT and West, of Phoenix, AZ, and two grandchildren.
A private interment will take place in Beallsville, MD on April 21, 2012. The family asks that any donations go to the Alzheimer's Foundation of America.
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