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About photographer colin seitz 1440 810 80

Meet Colin Seitz

Introduced to art at a young age by his paternal grandmother and oil painter Kate Seitz, Colin was supplied a smock, a palette of water colors, brushes and paper to begin creating. Later on, he was introduced to oil paints, producing his first painting, a shark that reflects the impact a recent trip to the Baltimore Aquarium had on him, stirring an interest in sharks that survives to this day. Colin took a few art classes in primary and secondary school, but never really found a medium that resonated until he was around 22 where after his enlistment as a United States Marine, he began to paint again with oils which quickly transitioned to sketching with charcoal and pen and ink; it seems obvious now the lure resided with the power of black and white and its limitless shades of gray in between. Around this same time, he began to use a manual Nikon 35mm camera his father owned. Black and white film soon found its way into the camera and the passion was born.

From the early days of an apartment bedroom with a darkroom in it, Colin moved to digital photography which he used for several years to satisfy his desire to capture his emotional response to the landscape, but the change was not permanent. As more and more of the photography world began to use digital, Colin felt something was missing, and made the switch back to film and the darkroom, noting “it isn’t about which one is better, rather, the creation of a photograph with film satisfies me; it is therapeutic, and involves a level of thought and patience I didn’t experience creating photographs digitally.” Colin continues to search out all there is to learn with photography, and supplements his learning by experimenting in the darkroom and the field.
 
Colin and his wife Cortney live at the Jersey Shore along with Tiger, their rescued cat. Colin spent 4 years in the United States Marine Corps prior to earning a BA in Economics with minor in Mathematics from Rutgers University. During his time at Rutgers, Colin was influenced by Dr Peter Rona, his professor for Oceanography, who introduced concepts about global and ocean warming, as well as conservation. It was an elective class and while it did not change the course of study Colin chose, much of what he learned continues to guide him now with his beliefs and approach to sustainable living along with protecting the land we have, to include his approach of leaving things better than we found them. 

Artist Statement

My photographs place the viewer where I stood, virtually inside my shoes as I took in the subject that I saw and felt. The art of making a photograph is one that connects me to the earth and my surroundings and allows me to capture forever the feeling I had when I made the exposure. My photographs offer the viewer an escape from everyday life, to be transported off to somewhere with no ringing phones or full email inboxes.

With the rapid pace today’s society imposes on us, my photographs offer a step back as well as an outlet for to take in what sometimes is right in front us but we fail to notice because of the pace of life. My photographs single out and direct your focus to what needs to be seen; through seemingly infinite depth of field and the use of light and shadow they beg you to engage your imagination, to feel and smell the salt air as you watch the sun move behind late afternoon summer clouds on its path to hide behind sand dunes along the horizon at the New Jersey Shore; a functional stairwell that you may have used many times but have never seen is now brought into clear focus, its design abundantly apparent, the use of line and form lending it abstract qualities while still reminding you of its daily functional use.

For the majority of my photographs, I use film with either a large or medium format camera. I feel it is important to continue to use film and traditional dark room materials; they allow me to communicate what I wish to preserve in an image and its inherent timeliness helps me to convey of a moment and feeling in time, preserved forever.

Timeline

May 2017

Dune, Oceano, CA at Center for Fine Art Photography

May 2017

Juror for the Art Alliance's first all photography show

http://artallianceofmonmouth.org/

November 2016

Monmouth Museum Winter Wonders Show

March 2016

Solo Show at Oyster Point Hotel, Red Bank, NJ

December 2015

Solo Show - McKay Imaging