Blake Praytor
statement
My contribution to the Palmetto Portrait Project includes portraits that are participatory in nature. The subject participated by selecting the location and assisting in the composition by including or excluding information about themselves. I used a large format camera mounted on a tripod to establish a formal approach to the subject and to allow for studying the composition and content of each image.
bio
Blake Praytor was raised the son of a Naval officer in North and South Carolina. After his college years, his interest in architecture and design fueled his life’s direction. Blake’s passion for photography was born while working on the interior design staff of The R.L. Bryan Company. By the 1960’s, to escape his current lifestyle, Blake traveled to Nantucket, MA for the summer of 1970. In this time he met a local photographer named Charlie Foler who gave Blake his first camera, a 35 mm Kowa Six Camera. Soon after he enrolled in the photography program at The California College of Arts and Crafts. In 1974 he returned with his wife Margaret to her hometown of Greenville, South Carolina. Blake entered Graduate School at Clemson University studying Graphic Communication printing and publishing several small books of his own work. He taught public school for a year before becoming the Creative Director for the Greenville County Museum of Art. During the next several years Blake established a commercial studio in downtown Greenville and was recognized as one of the top advertising photographers in the area. After 25 years in the commercial photography business, he decided to close his studio and to return to graduate school at Clemson University, studying under the tutelage of Sam Wang, where he earned his MFA in 1998 at age 55. He joined the faculty of Greenville Technical College in 1999, served as Chairman of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts for 9 years, and is now Lead Professor of Photography. Blake continues to work with his first love, a Leica M3 Double Stroke with a 50 mm Dual Range Summicron.
