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Pat and Rosemarie Keough share a personal mandate to assist environmental and social causes through their artistry. The entire net proceeds from the 950 limited-edition books ANTARCTICA are pledged to the Save the Albatross Campaign administered by BirdLife International. To date $31,200US has been advanced to this conservation effort.
Pat and Rosemarie Keough are internationally acclaimed photographers, also authors and publishers of seven art books featuring their photography. The Keoughs' award-winning imagery is unusual, perhaps because they have an acute awareness for the intricacy of nature and concern for its fragility. They are sensitive to both the ordinary and the extraordinary, the obvious and the ephemeral. Their artistic vision is holistic, taking notice of myriad aspects of both natural and human heritage. In the early 1980s the Keoughs chanced to meet while on a whitewater canoeing expedition on the legendary Nahanni River in northern Canada. Together they paddled 540 kilometers of wild white-water and found that they really enjoyed one another's company. They also never dumped their canoe; nor once in the month-long journey were either tempted to bat the other with a paddle. The couple married just four months later and while on their honeymoon, spent exploring the Ghat Mountains of southern India, they thought to turn their mutual passion for photography into a shared profession. This was the turning point for both Pat and Rosemarie. They decided to become private-press publishers of books of their photographs, in spite of the reality that neither had prior experience. Through determination, hard work, and talent, the years that followed have been full with best-selling books, several television specials, and dozens of prestigious awards. The Keoughs also raised two wonderful children who often join in the adventures, and they made time to design and build their harmonious arts-and-craft style house and studio. About a decade ago, unsatisfied with the standards and compromises inherent in normal book-making, the Keoughs began to conceptualize a new genre of fine-press, artist book. In 2002 they released the first advance copies of ANTARCTICA, the inaugural volume in their Explorer Series of exclusive leather-bound tomes. To create these books, the artists traveled widely researching centuries-old hand-binding traditions, luxurious sumptuous materials, and cutting-edge printing technologies. They also began spending a lot of time photographing inspiring parts of the world. Two austral summers (two periods of six-months) were dedicated to photographing the Antarctic while on expeditions with scientists, mountain climbers, and tourists. At times when taking photos, the Keoughs compose an image together, mutually making minor adjustments to the camera and lens. They write and design in similar fashion - working and reworking pages until they are both satisfied. In addition to garnering great artistic satisfaction, the Explorer Series allows the Keoughs to assist environmental and social causes about which they feel strongly. Net proceeds from ANTARCTICA supports BirdLife International's Save The Albatross campaign - the connection being that the habitat of the Royal and Wandering Albatrosses, world's largest seabirds, is the stormy seas encircling Antarctica. Today the hand-binding of ANTARCTICA is complete. Critics worldwide, be they curators or the media, have acclaimed the Keoughs' ANTARCTICA, recipient of 21 awards, to be a masterpiece. "One of the most beautiful handmade books ever ... a covetable work of art, a shrine, even, to the frozen continent and its inhabitants." quoted from Patek Philippe: The International Magazine
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