Craig Semetko (born Craig Joseph William Semetko, July 9, 1961) is an American photographer and speaker based in Los Angeles.[1] He is known for the strong sense of humor and irony that appear in his candid and spontaneous photos of every day life. He teaches workshops around the world and his photography has been exhibited in the United States, Europe, and Asia.[2]
Life and work
Semetko was born near Detroit, Michigan and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Speech from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. He holds a masters degree in consciousness studies from the University of Philosophical Research in Los Angeles. At the age of 16 he served as a Page in the United States House of Representatives. For much of his adult life Semetko was a professional comedic actor and writer, and still performs occasionally. In the year 2000, he had a corporate performing job that took him to England, Ireland Japan and China. He purchased his first camera for the trip and after seeing a photo he took outside Shanghai of two women in a dugout canoe it occurred to him that he could use photography as a different medium to tell stories. He has stated he views his photography as an extension of his acting and writing.[2][3]
Semetko was inspired by the work of Magnum photographers Henri Cartier-Bresson and Elliott Erwitt, saying, “In a perfect world, I would try to get the emotion from an Erwitt image and the composition of a Cartier-Bresson photograph.”[4] Semetko's first photographic gallery show was entitled, “Street Photography: From Classic to Contemporary—Henri Cartier-Bresson and Craig Semetko.”[2]
UNPOSED
Semetko’s first book, UNPOSED, was published by teNeuse in 2010 and contained photographs taken from 2000-2010. Elliott Erwitt wrote the foreword for the book, excerpted below:
"Good photographs are tough enough to shoot. Really funny ones are even harder. Good and funny photographs observed in nature not arranged or manipulated but simply observed in real time with amazing consistency, constitute a minor miracle now presented in Mr. Semetko's book...In my book he is the essential photographer. That is, the one who sees what others could not have seen.”
In 2014 Semetko was selected as one of ten photographers to be a part of Leica Camera’s “10x10” exhibition. This inaugural show celebrated Leica’s 100 year anniversary at their new headquarters and museum in Wetzlar, Germany. Leica paired each photographer with their “artistic fathers,” coupling Semetko with Elliott Erwitt.[2] In an article that year celebrating the history of Leica cameras, Esquire magazine called Semetko “a noble torchbearer” to the long legacy of professional photographers using Leicas, beginning with Cartier-Bresson.[5]
Books
UNPOSED (teNeuse, 2009) ISBN 978-3-8327-9420-0[2]
INDIA UNPOSED (Street View Press, 2014) ISBN 978-0-9916065-0-4[2]
Books with contributions by Semetko
Both Sides of Sunset—Photographing Los Angeles (Contributor, Metropolis Books, 2015) ISBN 9781938922732
Notable Photographs
San Francisco, California, 2005—A man stands at a urinal with photographs of a laughing Marilyn Monroe looking down on him.[2]
Seaside Heights, New Jersey, 2012—The Jet Star Roller Coaster is washed out to sea from Hurricane Sandy.[2]
Hanoi, Vietnam, 2010—Two couples and two single men sit on benches next to Hoàn Kiếm Lake.[2]
Varanasi, India, 2013—A dog stands on a wall with an extended poem written on it entitled, “Ask Yourself Who Am I?”[2]
Mahabalipuram, India, 2013—A man sleeps under a huge boulder known as “Krishna’s Butterball.”[2]
Pushkar, India—2013—A street portrait of a man wearing a sweatshirt that says, “Women Are Such Wonderful Creatures.”[2]
Varanasi, India—2013—Two men row a boat at night on the Ganges river.[2]
Selected Exhibitions
"Craig Semetko: Funny Business” (Street Photo Milano, 2018)
“Still Unposed” (Leica Gallery Bangkok, 2018)
“Funny Business” (Leica Galerie Nuremberg, 2017)
“India Unposed” (Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, 2015)
“Craig Semetko—Unposed and Unseen” (Leica Gallery Los Angeles, 2014)
“America: E Pluribus Unum (Out of Many, One)" (Open Shutter Gallery, Durango, Colorado, 2013)
“Semetko: Unposed” (Leica Store, Washington, D.C., 2012)
“Craig Semetko: Unposed” (Leica Gallery, New York City, 2011)
“Craig Semetko: Street Life” (Leica Galerie, Salzburg, 2010)
“Craig Semetko: Street Photography” (Leica Galerie, Frankfurt, 2009)
“Street Photography: From Classic to Contemporary—Henri Cartier-Bresson and Craig Semetko” (Open Shutter Gallery, Durango, Colorado, 2008)
Selected Videos
Craig Semetko: Portrait (uberartists, 2010)
How to use a Leica M Rangefinder: Craig Semetko (Leica Camera, 2014)
Craig Semetko: The Photographer’s Diet (COOPH, 2017)
References
- ^ "Craig Semetko live in Wetzlar // 2014 // Global // Actualités Leica // Univers Leica - Leica Camera AG". fr.leica-camera.com. Retrieved 2019-01-20.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Home". CRAIG SEMETKO. Retrieved 2019-01-20.
- ^ Lassiter, Ken (May 15, 2015). "The Charm of Serendipity a Conversation with Craig Semetko". Photographer’s Forum Magazine. pp. 30–38.
- ^ Sethi, Shikha (January 2016). "Ways of Seeing: How to be a better photographer (for the instagram generation)". GQ India. pp. 54–55.
- ^ Garfield, Simon (Winter 2014). "Dot Commerce. The Cult of Leica". Esquire, The Big Black Book Issue 4, autumn/winter 2014 UK edition.