Midway through 2022 Tim Keane, from the Milwaukee area, had an idea. He decided on his own accord to come
On The Way To Somewhere Else: Changing LIves and Changing Oil” exhibit at Rocky Mountain College’s Ryniker-Morrison Gallery
to Billings and begin taking photographs of MasterLube employees, confident there were great stories of young individuals accomplishing incredible things. He hoped to be able to capture the unique greatness in each person and in doing so share a story, the story, of MasterLube. As he worked on this project, coming to Billings every few months for the past year, the idea of taking the work and the stories shared and putting them into a book arose. At the beginning of May all the work, travel, conversations and photos of current and former employees, and discussions with others in the arts community culminated with his book “On The Way To Somewhere Else: Changing Lives and Changing Oil”, released with a reception and prints of his work displayed at the Ryniker-Morrison Gallery in Rocky Mountain College. Now as May comes to a close, the gallery that Rocky Mountain College so graciously chose to display will as well and we would like to invite you to see it before it does.
Check out our exhibit closing Facebook Event page
The following is an announcement from the Ryniker-Morrison Gallery:
“On May 31st from 6-8PM Ryniker-Morrison Gallery, 1511 Poly Drive, Billings, Montana will host a closing reception for Tim Keane’s photographic series, “On The Way To Somewhere Else: Changing Lives and Changing Oil.” The event will begin with lecture from 6:00-6:30, Work and Workers in Photography: An Historical Overview, presented by Keith F. Davis. Following this, Davis, Keane, and Todd Forsgren will have a short discussion contextualize Keane’s work within this history. Following this, from 7:00-8:00 will be an informal reception in the gallery with light refreshments. Limited Editions of the first printing will be available at the event.
Keith F. Davis is a photographer, writer and curator who has authored many books on photography including An American Century of Photography and Origins of American Photo
graphy. From 1979 and 2005, Davis built the Hallmark Photographic Collection. In December 2005, the collection was donated to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and Davis became the Senior Curator of Photography at the museum. His lecture will range from daguerreotype occupationals to John Thomson, Alice Austen, Lewis Hine, Bill Brandt, and up to fairly recent work be artists such as Sebastião Salgado, Lee Friedlander, and Bill Owens.
Tim Keane is a photographer and entrepreneur who has spent the past year photographing a small oil change company’s workers in Billings, Montana called MasterLube. Keane’s photographs explore the employees and alumni of the company as well as depict elements of the typical workday. They thoughtful and innovatively weave together a myriad of narratives about the company mission and the lives of these employees.
Todd Forsgren is the director of the Ryniker-Morrison gallery and a faculty member at Rocky Mountain College. He studied biology and visual arts at Bowdoin College and has an MFA in photography from J.E. Purkyne University. He was an artist-in-residence at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, the Artist’s Enclave at I-Park, and Maryland Hall for Creative Arts as well as a Fulbright Fellow in Mongolia.
His photographs have been featured in National Geographic, Slate, Wired, The Guardian, Nature, New Scientist, TIME’s Lightbox, and Cosmopolitan.”
Order your copy of the book here: On The Way To Somewhere Else: Changing Lives and Changing Oil | Tim Keane Photography
