Franke Keating - By Logan Mosby - loganmosby@ddtonline.com


Franke Keating (center), along with her friend Mary Virginia Watson (left) enjoy Cathy Hegman's (right) art exhibit at the Greenville Arts Council's Art Gallery.

She is known world-wide as one of the most celebrated photographers for National Geographic, having traveled across the globe to some of the world's most exotic locales, including 17 trips to Kenya. She is known locally as an extraordinarily talented portrait photographer, having shot some of the area's most well-known families and authors.

But to many around these parts, she is simply known as “Ms. Franke.” And the Port City will get the opportunity to view a collection of a lifetime when the Greenville Arts Council hosts a joint exhibit of the work of Franke Keating and her son, John, titled “Franke and John Keating: Mother and Son - An exhibit of their photography and etchings.”

A member of the Greenville community for more than 60 years, Franke Keating originally grew up across the river, in southeast Arkansas. In 1939, Keating married the love of her life, Bern, and moved to West Palm Beach, Fla. The couple relocated to Utica, N.Y., before Bern joined the U.S. Navy, and subsequently fought in World War II.

The Keatings returned to the South after the war, eventually settling in Greenville, where the couple opened a studio, which thrived on freelance and magazine contract work.
Initially, Bern was at the photographic helm of the business, but Franke longed to become more involved with the art. Eventually, the couple would switch roles, leaving Keating more in the photographer's seat, and her husband took over the writing aspect of their work.
The couple traveled the world over the next 50 years, flying off into the wild blue yonder, traveling to far away lands, going on safari and meeting new and exciting adventures head on.

Dr. John Keating inherited Franke's love of visual arts. “Ever since he was a little boy, he was always drawing on something,” Franke said. Keating pursued an education in art at Bowdoin College, a nationally acclaimed liberal arts school in Maine. While showing his work in Atlanta, Franke said her son made the life-altering decision to pursue medicine as a career.
Keating attended Tulane University, where he earned his medical degree and is currently an orthopedic surgeon with the Keating Group, a clinic he opened in 1986 that specializes in sports medicine, orthopedic trauma, and neck and back injuries.

Franke said she was surprised and honored when she and John were approached by the Greenville Arts Council about a joint exhibition. “I don't know of any other situation where a mother and son have shown their work together,” Keating said. “As far as I'm concerned, though, John is No. 1 - the one with the real talent. “But, I feel very humbled,” she continued. “I am so touched and I am so pleased. “But I don't have a thing to wear!”