Caddo Lake, Texas Style Opening Reception

Thursday, July 21, 2022
5:00 PM 7:30 PM

Central ARTSTATION 801 Crockett St. Shreveport, La 71101 USA (map)

Google Calendar ICS

Caddo Lake, Texas Style

A Photography Exhibition by Bennie Dotie

Caddo Lake is named after the Southeastern culture of Native American called Caddoans or Caddo. It is considered to be the only natural lake in Texas. The Caddo Indian legend credits the formation of the lake to an earthquake. This nearly 40 square mile lake is known for its abundance of cypress trees sitting on the Texas-Louisiana border, half in Texas and half in Louisiana.

On the Texas half in the right season, at the right time and location, the cypress trees create gorgeous reflections in the water. If you don't carefully look at some of these images, one could be confused by thinking the picture is upside down.

As the tour guide, I guided my family through the Texas side of the lake. The scenery was very eye catching. As I held my camera looking through the viewfinder, I admired the reflections of the cypress trees on the calm lake. It was very difficult for me to remove my finger from the shutter button because of the magnificence of those reflections. Touring Caddo Lake Texas Style during the right season and right time could be great therapy for any outdoor photographer.

About the ArtistVeteran Photographer and Former Educator Bennie Dotie was born in Longwood, Louisiana. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography from Louisiana Tech University. While at Tech, he studied abroad in Rome, Italy. He continued his education in photography by attending the Nikon School of Photography in Addison, Texas.Dotie was a staff photographer for over thirty years for The Shreveport Sun, which is Louisiana’s oldest Black Owned Newspaper. He also has served as a “stringer photographer” for Johnson Publishing Company who is the publisher of the nationally known JET, EM and EBONY magazines.

He became enamored with the camera, as a sort of second choice. “I‘ve always been fascinated by pictures and images. I started as a child trying to be an artist by drawing images and pictures,” he said. “I found I wasn’t very good at that, so I started fiddling with the camera.”Dotie, who retired in 2021 after teaching photography for twelve years in Caddo Parish Schools system, regards his mother, Mrs. Eliza Dotie as being the most guiding influence in his life.Dotie thinks photography is one of the most effective forms of communication known to humanity.