Ken Botto: Last Work 2008 – White Hat and Mothership

Ken Botto created and photographed miniature tableaux using his toy collection, unique props, and found objects. Armed with his “funky 1973 Nikkormat” he relied on natural light in his Bolinas, California, backyard and used reflected mirrors to produce illuminated and atmospheric effects. All images were created in the camera with neither digital nor darkroom manipulations. Botto created over 35 series, each containing anywhere from 9 to 153 images. Much of the work comments on cultural contradictions and absurdities of everyday life.

I’m dealing with artificial, fake objects. They are fabrications. I’m trying to get beyond the objects of course. I want to stretch the believability. We know these are miniatures, but at the same time the scene looks bigger than it is. It’s bigger than life. I’m trying to say something about how we see ourselves through these objects.

- Ken Botto interviewed by Paul Karabinis

White Hat: 2008
Botto was easily identifiable by his ever-present white hat. He incorporates his trademark in the series White Hat, the second-to-last series that he completed in the last year of his life. No matter the set- up, by including this iconic and personal possession, Botto interjects himself in his examination of mortality and identity.

The majority of the props that he selected have the themes of death and dying in common. Included in this series is one of the three identified self-portraits that he completed in his lifetime.

Mothership: 2008
Photographed in the last year of Botto’s life, Mothership, explores questions of ascension, human existence and space exploration. The placement of whale vertebrae and jaw bones in the sky, often hovering or ascending over constructed landscapes, suggest Botto’s belief in the continuation of life after death through the spirit.

Throughout his life, Botto was fascinated with transcendental thought, supernatural phenomena and extraterrestrial intelligence. These photographs with dramatic spotlights, glowing orbs and orchids provide compelling variety, yet stay within the existential framework that focuses the series.

Learn more about the Kenneth J. Botto Photography Trust