Dean Karr Biography

When speaking of Director/Photographer Dean Karr, the one thing that people seem to agree about is that he is a true original. His signature style, often copied but never duplicated, has gained him international recognition as one of a small group of young media artists whose work interprets and defines our time. He is clearly a man to watch if one is interested in knowing which way the wind will be blowing. Karr’s photography has been the subject of numerous shows at galleries ranging from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the Laguna Beach Art Museum, the Merry Karnowsky Gallery, Seattle’s Roq la Rue, to a show that travelled throughout Russia and the Ukraine in mid 1999. His striking album and print work is familiar to the music buying public. A native of Seattle, Washington, Karr received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Washington State University. The excitement of the emerging Seattle rock scene provided him with early photographic subject matter. Moving to Los Angeles to attend the Art Center School of Design in Pasadena, Karr found himself drawn away from the academic world by the reality of the extraordinary and malformed characters that he encountered in the depths of the city. Says Karr’s producer, industry veteran Arthur Gorson, “Dean is a powerful, exciting, and challenging talent to work with. His eye is totally original, his instincts full of immediacy and freshness. He has the gift of being able gain people’s trust so they give that something extra in front of the camera. It’s always exhilarating to see what comes next.”