Wild Delaware by Kevin Fleming
Kevin Fleming’s portfolio of photographic images spans the world. Whether it’s the simple beauty of birds in nature, a crop duster flying into your face, or the assassination of an Egyptian president, Fleming’s eye and shutter have captured a broad sweep of life on planet Earth.
Now Fleming, who spent a decade roaming the globe and focusing his lens on subjects for National Geographic Magazine, has created two images that blend his photographic and artistic senses with a knowing nod to popular commercial culture.
“The idea just hit me one day. I had the picture of the East End Lighthouse in Lewes on the cover of my book. And then I thought, ‘What’s Rehoboth?’ To me, Rehoboth would be the submarine watchtowers. Then I had the idea to turn them into an Absolute Lewes and an Absolute Rehoboth limited edition print,” said Fleming in his studio near Rehoboth Beach.
The Absolute photographs premiered this summer at the Rehoboth Art League’s Outdoor Show where Fleming said the “reception was fabulous.”
“Usually with the photography I do, I don’t have a chance to go a little further with art or illustration. Its been fun to have it turn out nicely,” he said.
Fleming, a native of Kent County, has been shooting pictures since he was first bitten by the shutterbug in the late 1960s while in high school.
Fleming said he’s probably best known for his 1981 photograph of President Anwar Sadat’s assassination.
“I was between him and the gunman,” said Fleming, who in the past has said, “Ninety-nine percent of what makes good photography is being there.”
The lighthouse image used in the Absolute Lewes photograph first appeared on the cover of Fleming’s “Beaches of Delaware” book. The World War II-era submarine watchtower shot was taken at Gordon’s Pond near Rehoboth Beach.
“Lewes has the sunset behind it and Rehoboth has the sunrise,” he said.
Fleming said his Absolute images are purposeful parodies of advertisements for Absolut, a popular brand of Swedish vodka.
“I ran it past my lawyer before I did it, to make sure I wasn’t going to get into legal hot water. He said since it’s a parody there’s really no confusion.
