Retrospective exhibit to celebrate photographer Richard Watherwax and his body of work

Some photographers document celebrities; some produce such a singular body of work that they achieve celebrity status themselves. Richard Watherwax is one of those.

Now, with his 90th birthday approaching, the long time Key West-based photographer with the inimitable style is to be honored with a retrospective of his works at the Key West Museum of Art and History, 281 Front Street. Titled “The Antic Humor of Richard Watherwax,” the exhibit kicks off with an opening reception from 5:00-7:00pm on Friday, Sept. 13, and continues through Nov. 24, 2024.

The tribute to the man and his creative life was conceived by Erika Biddle, a Key West resident known for throwing herself behind people and causes that she’s passionate about. After spending some time investigating how many of the photographer’s works could be tracked down and acquired on loan – and with a number of pieces materializing in surprising and serendipitous ways - she approached the Key West Art & Historical Society about the possibility of hosting a retrospective exhibit.

Biddle has spent the last several months assembling the works and working with KWAHS curator Cori Convertito to prepare the exhibition. “I visit Richard regularly at Palm Vista, where he now lives,” she said. “When I realized his 90th birthday was approaching it spurred me to launch this project. It’s important; he’s such a major part of our area history.”

Biddle said that the project will also include instituting a scholarship fund in Watherwax’s name to benefit young photography students ages 12-18.

Watherwax relates in a blog post (at watherwax.blogspot.com), that in high school he had two hobbies, magic and photography. Many would say that magic has infused his photography, shaping his whimsical perspective. The site also includes a photograph of him at work in a darkroom at Manhattan’s Copacabana nightclub in 1960. He relates stories of his “Beatnik Daze” in San Francisco and NYC, bartending and serving drinks to people like Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, and drinking with Shel Silverstein in Greenwich Village before reconnecting with him decades later in Key West.

During his New York years, Watherwax, who was a journalism/photography major in college, settled into commercial and advertising photography, shooting for clients like Coca-Cola, Revlon, and AT&T, and relates that in those years he actually lived the “Mad Men” lifestyle depicted in the smoke, sex, and martini-laced television series.
​
Taking his final bite out of the Big Apple in 1985, Watherwax relocated to Key West, where he quickly took to the island’s free-spirited, artistic, and intellectual vibe. Freed from the Manhattan ad agency lifestyle and its pressures, he cultivated a notably droll signature style. In the course of his Key West career, Watherwax photographed scores of “shakers, makers, and characters,” some depicted in character portraits, others, such as his “Saturday Night Baby Fights” classic, in over-the-top story-telling scenes or tableaux cooked up in his singularly quirky cinematographic imagination.

Previous to when digital cameras made professional caliber photography accessible to the wider public, Watherwax, with his unmistakable personal style stood out as a luminary among a very few top tier Key West-based photographers. As an in-demand wedding photographer, Watherwax quickly embraced digital technology and the sudden liberation of not having to count shots and replace rolls of film during a job. Having a personal photo session with Watherwax was a bucket list item for tourists and Keys residents. Clients understood that Watherwax could hone in on their unseen interior world, and capture that environment, and they would come away with something completely unexpected and original.

In addition to his photographic opus, Watherwax is the author of several books, among them, “Cat Tales” (1978), “The Cat Who Drank Too Much” (1979), and “Tales of Old Key West” (1989), a farcical history of the island. Cats and women stand out as Watherwax’s chosen creative muses, with his famous “Fat Cat Capsizing” reproduced as prints, and on T-shirts, tote bags, towels, and coffee mugs collected world-wide. A series of pet feline companions each in turn bore the name Willoughby, one of whom he entered in the 1989 mayoral race. While she didn’t win the office, Willoughby did garner an impressive 37 votes.

The public is invited to celebrate the man and his works at his exhibit opening/early birthday party on Sept. 13. “I can’t think of any way I’d rather celebrate my 90th birthday than surrounded by so many of the friends I’ve photographed over the years and who have made this such an interesting journey,” Watherwax commented.
“The Antic Humor of Richard Watherwax” is sponsored in part by Florida Keys Council of the Arts and Key West Art & Historical Society. For more information contact Erika Biddle at [email protected]