Keith Alan Sprouse is a documentary, portrait, and performing arts photographer based in Charlottesville, Virginia. His background includes a stint in the United States Marine Corps, over a decade of experience teaching Caribbean Studies at the college level, and graduate studies in community mental health. He currently works as an adult outpatient clinician in a community mental health clinic in
Charlottesville, where he lives with his wife and their dog. Keith's first long-term documentary project,the Cville People Project, grew out of a desire to develop his ability to capture people's stories through both portraiture and text. He received some local media attention and was featured in The Hook, a weekly arts and culture newspaper, and on the NBC29 afternoon and evening news. He has photographed over 130 people since he began the project in May 2012, among them pole dancers, psychics, drag queens, neuroscientists, models, baristas, musicians, and various denizens of Charlottesville's Downtown Mall. In the spring of 2013, he was commissioned by Region Ten Community Services Board to make portraits of Region Ten consumers struggling with mental illness and substance abuse issues. Keith collaborated with Beth Gager, who interviewed the participants and helped them craft their recovery stories. This project, entitled "A View Inside," was first presented at a regional conference held in Charlottesville in October 2013. Keith will continue working on this project over the next year, adding the portraits and stories of those in recovery. After photographing two of the co-founders of the Charlottesville Ballet as a part of the Cville People Project, Keith approached them with the idea of collaborating on a project entitled "Grace Under Pressure." In the fall of 2013, Keith began documenting the life of this professional ballet company. He has photographed classes, rehearsals, and performances, and he will show some of these images in an upcoming group show hosted by the Piedmont Council for the Arts this April. In addition to his documentary projects, Keith continues to work with artists, scholars, and entrepreneurs to develop their portfolios and their personal brands through portraits and head shots in both studios settings and on location.
