Bio
Diane was born in 1976 and spent her childhood in Sanderson, Texas. From the ages of seven through eighteen she lived in Dallas, Texas. She has also lived in Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Ohio and currently resides in Louisville, Kentucky with her daughter Maggie. After years of working as a printer, she is now concentrating on her personal work. Her photographs have appeared on the covers of The Kenyon Review, the Ontario Review and The Sun Magazine.
Statement
I entered my first abandoned house in West Texas at the age of thirteen. The idea of exploring abandonments has become a recurring theme throughout my work. Our familiar landscapes are changing quickly and dramatically. The old is being replaced with the new and in most cases, the change is not for the better. These images are intended to provoke a dialogue about a disappearing way of life, and more specifically, to study the relationship between the female psyche and abandoned structures.
"The South is removed every working hour and replaced with generic anonymity. Soon there will not be such place as the South. In its stead we are getting nightmarish happiness of Global Nowhere." --Henryk Fantazos
For more detailed historical information on the "Modern Ruins of Kentucky" and to view these sites on a map, please visit my Modern Ruins photoset here.
Press
"Dennis Kiel, former curator of photography at the Cincinnati Art Museum and current chief curator at The Light Factory in Charlotte, N.C., has popped back into town -- or at least his critical eye has. Kiel is serving as a guest curator for Manifest's current exhibition, Trick of the Light. The show is "not an exhibition about deception or magic," Kiel says in his curatorial statement, "though many of the images are indeed magical." ...Diane Deaton-Street has three photographs in the exhibition, set one on top of the other. Each picture features a girl gazing at an old, abandoned house. She's at a distance from the house, and we are at a distance from her. She stands with her back toward us, no way for us to see her expression or understand what she's feeling. She exists there as our proxy, calling us into the photograph. She is holding our place, or so it feels. Deaton-Street aptly titled one picture "Recurring Dream" -- reading my mind. I think I’ve had that dream. More than that, though, the images seem to move us through time. The girl stands in the current moment, while the houses fall to entropy in the backgrounds. Even beyond the houses, the sky in each photograph is thick with artifice, recalling the photographs of ancestors..." ~Laura James, CityBeat.com
"Deaton-Street uses muted colors, unusual perspectives, and figures positioned away from the viewer, to create quiet scenes of intrigue and mystery. There is a dream-like mystique to "Back to the Old House", which takes its title from a song by The Smiths with lyrics that complement the photograph: "Here began all my dreams, The saddest thing I've ever seen". ~Dennis Kiel, Chief Curator, The Light Factory Contemporary Museum of Photography and Film
Resume
Publications, Awards & Exhibits
- 2008 Oxford American Magazine "Best of the South"
- 2008 PX3 Prix De La Photographie Paris (Honorable Mention)
- 2008 Bluegrass Biennial Juried Exhibit, Claypool-Young Art Gallery, Morehead State University, KY
- 2007 "Trick of the Light" Juried Exhibit, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
- 2007 This Old House Magazine (November's "Save This Old House" Feature)
- 2007 Photographer's Forum "Best of Photography" Annual
- 2007 American Institute of Architects/CKC Photo Contest (Honorable Mention)
- 2007 The Sun Magazine (February Cover)
- 2006 Kentucky Foundation for Women Individual Artist's Grant Recipient
- 2005 Ontario Review (Fall/Winter Featured Portfolio)
- 2004 Member's Gallery Exhibit, Silver Eye Center For Photography, Pittsburgh, PA
- 2004 The Kenyon Review (Winter Cover Photo)
- 2003 Sacred Art Festival Exhibit, Boxheart Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
- 2003 3rd Annual Anniversary Exhibit, Boxheart Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
- 2003 Photographer's Forum "Best of Photography" Annual (Honorable Mention)
- 2003 The Sun Magazine (August Issue)
- 2002 Clamor Magazine
- 2002 Exposure Magazine (University of Arkansas Literary Arts)
- 1996 Photographer's Forum 16th Annual "Best of College Photography"
Education
- 1997-1999 University of North Texas, Denton, TX.
- 1995-1997 Ouachita Baptist University, Arkadelphia, AR.
Purchase
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