Patty Carroll’s World of Elvis Tribute Artists
Calendars, planners and note cards featuring stylized portraits of the acolytes of an American icon by photographer Patty Carroll.
Artist Patty Carroll Describes Her Work
These are photographs of Elvis Impersonators which have been stylized, yet allow the viewer to experience the vibrancy and energy of Elvis’ many Tribute Artists. To see the real photographs, buy the book (Living the Life: The World of Elvis Tribute Artists ) which is a series of studio portraits of ETA’s in full dress, photographed usually just after a performance when they are still in Elvis mode.
The pictures show the transformation that happens to people who take on another identity by emulating the look, the sound, the gesture to become a personalized version of the memory of the “The King.” Elvis was a hero to some, a rebel to others, a image of tackiness to many, he nevertheless remains an icon of the American Dream that lives in the collective imagination. The impersonators keep the memory alive and the interpreted image of Elvis continues to be recognized, revered and loved world over.
Autobiographical Notes
I have been teaching university level photography since leaving graduate school at the Institute of Design at IIT. As this career took up most of my earlier years, I am now able to explore and develop my work more fully while teaching part time at The School of the Art Institute and Columbia College in Chicago. I have participated in numerous group and one-person exhibitions, and have work in several museums internationally, and have produced three photographic books; Spirited Visions a book and exhibit of portraits of Chicago artists in 1992, Culture is Everywhere in 2002, and Living the Life: The World of Elvis Tribute Artists in 2005. One-person exhibits include “Are You Lonesome Tonight” at Royal Photographic Society in Bath, England in 1996, and “Elvis?” at the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago in 1999. I have also curated several exhibitions; American Made: The New Still Live which toured Japan, 1993, The Constructed Self, 1998, and E2K:Elvisions:2000. In 1998 I was granted a residency at Akiyoshai Art Center in Japan, in 1999 I also was given a short residency at Anderson Ranch in Colorado where I started to expand my work in digital format. Aside from other small grants, in 2003 I received an Artist Fellowship Grant from the Illinois Arts Council and in 2004, had a one-person museum exhibition of my “Faux Film Posters” at the Art Institute of Chicago.
Links
Patty Carroll Photography
Elvis Tribute Artists
