{"id":7469,"date":"2014-09-12T00:09:10","date_gmt":"2014-09-12T07:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=7469"},"modified":"2014-09-12T11:27:38","modified_gmt":"2014-09-12T18:27:38","slug":"artist-via-camera-lens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2014\/09\/12\/artist-via-camera-lens\/","title":{"rendered":"Artist via camera lens"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michael Seelig is donating the proceeds of his photography exhibit to the Zack Gallery. (photo by Olga Livshin)<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Every one of Michael Seelig\u2019s photographs reflects a place, its character, its soul. He doesn\u2019t enhance the images in any way. Photoshop\u2019s magic is not for him. He even scoffs at cropping. \u201cI might crop a tiny bit for the printing, just the edges,\u201d he said in an interview with the Independent<\/em>. \u201cThat\u2019s my real challenge \u2013 to get every frame right.\u201d<\/p>\n

His approach to photography is that of an artist. And, he also paints, although unlike his photos, Seelig doesn\u2019t sell his paintings. \u201cThey are for family and friends. I never exhibited them,\u201d he said. \u201cMy paintings are mostly watercolors. The compositions are similar to my photographs \u2013 urban, for the most part \u2013 but they are different, too, depending on my mood, often architectural but less precise than photos, less angular. You have to allow the paints to run, to find their own way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seelig\u2019s solo exhibit Traces opened on Sept. 4 at the Zack Gallery. It is a fundraiser for the gallery. \u201cI\u2019m lucky to be able to donate this show to the gallery and the JCC [Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver],\u201d he said. \u201cMy wife and I have been supporters of this important institution in Vancouver for many years. We donated time and money, worked as volunteers at various points. I think maybe some people will buy prints of my photographs because the proceeds would benefit the JCC.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seelig took most of the photographs during his travels, and he has traveled extensively, especially after he retired. \u201cWe live part of every year in Israel,\u201d he explained. \u201cEverything is close there \u2013 Europe and Asia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many people travel and take photos, but not everybody can produce a body of photography worthy of an exhibition. Arriving on location is just a matter of buying a plane ticket, but finding uncommon angles and perspectives takes inspiration and a creative eye.<\/p>\n

\u201cI took the photo of the historical buildings in Budapest from the opposite roof,\u201d he said about one of the images. \u201cThe view from there was outstanding, but I had to find the perfect spot for this shot. I\u2019m interested in details and, for this shot, I wanted to align the lamp post with the border between the two buildings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another of his images, a majestic panorama of Turkish mountains with an air balloon as a focal point, he took from an ascending balloon. \u201cThe view was spectacular, the juxtaposition of a thousands-year-old landscape and the bright modern balloon.\u201d He couldn\u2019t have gotten such an impressive shot any other way.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what I like about photography,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m always looking for things to photograph but, as a rule, panoramas don\u2019t interest me.\u201d Instead, he admitted his fascination with urban details.<\/p>\n

As a professional architect, he taught urban planning and design at the University of British Columbia for 30 years and he frequently used his city photos for his lectures. \u201cWhen I travel, I always have a camera with me, but not in Vancouver, not now. Before I retired, though, I photographed Vancouver for my PowerPoint presentations. I had a lecture on benches in the city, another one on traffic lights. Signs in Vancouver \u2013 the images were fantastic. None of those signs exists anymore, which is a pity. I have those photos somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

None of his Vancouver photos are on display in the gallery. Some pictures, however, represent highly unusual urban elements, like a stairway on a blank wall in India or wall paintings in Italy, which look like abstract canvasses. Others, Seelig took in nature, but the lines and correlations of light and shadow evoke man-made formations. Boulders, for example, pile haphazardly against a blindingly blue sky in Israel, like a modernist sculpture, although no human arranged them. The eerie composition was created by sun, sand and wind.<\/p>\n

In one image, trees strain up in parallel lines in the forests of America or Turkey, lovely pastel patterns in yellow and green.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love trees,\u201d said Seelig. \u201cIn this show, there are four different kinds of trees.\u201d One tree in particular, an ancient terebinth growing in an Israeli desert among the rocks, seems surreal, almost sentient. The colors of the photo are muted silver and gold, bleached by the relentless sun, as the old gnarled tree contemplates the mysteries of the universe. It doesn\u2019t feel like people should exist anywhere near it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been taking photos for many years,\u201d said Seelig. \u201cBefore, they were either for my paintings, although I never copied them, not directly, just to remember something I saw, or I took photos for my teaching. In the last 15 years, I do a lot more photography.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seelig\u2019s photos are available in limited editions of five only. Each one will last a long time, as he produces his prints not on photo paper but on\u00a0archival metallic paper and mounted to aluminum.<\/p>\n

Traces runs until Sept. 28.<\/p>\n

Olga Livshin<\/em><\/strong> is a Vancouver freelance writer. She can be reached at olgagodim@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michael Seelig is donating the proceeds of his photography exhibit to the Zack Gallery. (photo by Olga Livshin) Every one of Michael Seelig\u2019s photographs reflects a place, its character, its soul. He doesn\u2019t enhance the images in any way. Photoshop\u2019s magic is not for him. He even scoffs at cropping. \u201cI might crop a tiny […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[989],"tags":[1182],"class_list":["post-7469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-visual-arts","tag-jewish-community-centre-of-greater-vancouver"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7469\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}