Today we’d like to introduce you to Patricia Houghton Clarke.
Hi Patricia, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
A self-taught photographer trained in life painting, drawing and fabric arts, Patricia is particularly
interested in culture, history and human nature. She has decades of travel in over 40 countries
and years of work in visual arts and social justice efforts. Her international award-winning
photography has been an exploration of humanity, both near and far. From the jungles of
Borneo and the Drag culture of southern California, to planetary migration and ecological crises,
she blends her photographic work with a quest to promote understanding between cultures. She founded the Facing Ourselves Project in southern Italy in 2016.
Her newest large-scale project, “An American Girl”, is currently in production with a multi-talented
team of talented filmmakers, composers, painters and writers.
Patricia’s work has been featured in exhibitions and publications around the United States and
Europe. A collection of her photographs of Barack Obama’s 2007 Presidential campaign and
2008 election is featured in the Barack Obama Presidential Library collection/National Archives.
The University of Chicago’s Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center also
houses a digital collection of Clarke’s Obama/Election Night 2008 images, along with her recent
photo book created during the pandemic; Facing Ourselves: Reckoning.
An exhibition of images from Obama’s first election night in Chicago will open in the fall of 2028 at the
University of Chicago’s Hannah Holborn Special Collections Library.
Patricia speaks English, Spanish and Italian, and has lived in South America, Europe and
Southeast Asia. She currently lives and works in Carpinteria, California.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Roads are always full of adventures, challenges, smooth patches, rough patches and surprises. The path that my photography life has taken me on has been just the same. For example, I guess you could call coming down with Typhoid on a photography expedition in Thailand/Laos a struggle – and yet that experience led me to some of the kindest, most generous people I have ever met, and became part of an extraordinary tale that culminated in my first exhibition in 2007, “Correspondences”.
I have found photography to be the most perfect vehicle for me to use my voice for justice, community and beauty. All of my years of travel through Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia and South America were journeys that informed not only my mind but my photographer’s eye. Each journey had its own particular set of struggles, but each time they created a bigger and more informed context for my work.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
As someone who has always been endlessly fascinated by light and composition, picking up a camera as a child was the most natural thing in the world. It wasn’t until many years and a few careers in the arts, travel and the nonprofit world later that my journey brought me to photography full time.
I love exploring ideas, cultures, locations and feelings with my work. Although I take photographs nearly every day for myself, I tend to be long-term-project oriented, and I love to dive deep into subjects that intrigue me or that I feel would benefit from the telling.
My images love to speak for themselves, tell their stories, and hopefully stimulate feelings and conversation upon their viewing.
What were you like growing up?
I am the middle child of 8 sisters, and as such I was basically quiet and an observer. I loved to go on long walks by myself, and there wasn’t a second thought then about a young girl wandering the Hollywood and Los Feliz hills alone. I loved books, I loved to play pool in our basement alone, and I loved bringing oddities home to look at in my microscope.
We moved several times growing up; from Washington State where I was born, to Connecticut, to Los Angeles before I was 5, and finally to Santa Barbara. Changing schools 6 times by the time I was 16 had a huge impact on me and helped me learn to be flexible and open to new places and new people. I believe this has fostered my fascination for travel and other cultures to this day. I left home on my 18th birthday and never looked back.
I received a Kodak Instamatic camera when I was about 11 years old. That gift was a life changer for me as I began visualizing life through a lens and began learning about composition and light. I learned the basic art of Batik as a Freshman at Immaculate Heart High School, went on to study that extraordinary art form in Java, returned to teach it in California, and subsequent studies in painting and design led me to the photography career I have now. I always say that after studying various art forms while always taking photographs on the side was like turning around and discovering that your best friend is actually your most beloved.
Pricing:
- 8 x 10 $250 Signed, archival pigment print
- 10 x 10 $350 Signed, archival pigment print
- 13 x 19 $450 Signed, archival pigment print
- 20 x 20 $700 Signed, archival pigment print
- 30 x 45 $950 Signed, archival pigment print
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.patriciahoughtonclarke.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pcphotog/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/patriciahoughtonclarke.photography/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patriciahclarke/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS1wcbhCDZCR2qy-NGbQzgg/posts
- Other: https://www.facingourselves.org/
Image Credits
(c) Merrill Clarke 2018
