Craig Semetko

Semetko in 2015

Craig Semetko (born Craig Joseph William Semetko, July 9, 1961) is an American street photographer and speaker based in Los Angeles.[1][2] He is known for the strong sense of humor[1] and irony that appears in his candid and spontaneous photos of everyday life. He teaches workshops around the world and his photography has been exhibited in the United States, Europe, and Asia.[3]

His series titled Unposed has been published in two books.[1][4]

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 master's degree in consciousness studies from the University of Philosophical Research in Los Angeles. At 16 he was a page in the United States House of Representatives. For much of his adult life Semetko was a professional comedic actor and writer,[4] and he still performs occasionally. In 2000, he had a corporate performing job[4] that took him to England, Ireland, Japan and China. He purchased his first camera for the trip[4] 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.[3][5]

Semetko was inspired by the work of Magnum Photos photographers Henri Cartier-Bresson[4] 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."[6]

Unposed

Semetko's first book, Unposed, was published by teNeues in 2010 and contained photographs taken from 2000 to 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's 10×10 exhibition.[7] 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 father," coupling Semetko with Erwitt.[3][7] 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.[8]

Books

Books by Semetko

  • Unposed (teNeues, 2009) ISBN 978-3-8327-9420-0. With a foreword by Elliott Erwitt.
  • India Unposed (Street View, 2014) ISBN 978-0-9916065-0-4

Books with contributions by Semetko

  • 10 x 10: Dominic Nahr, Julia Baier, Evgenia Arbugaeva, Craig Semetko, Kirill Golovchenko, Amedeo M. Turello, Alec Soth, Jing Huang, Thomas Ruff, Saga Sig. Volume 1 of Leica Fotografie International. LFI Photographie, 2014. OCLC 935624158.
  • Both Sides of Sunset—Photographing Los Angeles (Metropolis, 2015) ISBN 9781938922732
  • Inspiration Leica Akademie (English and German Edition), Rheinwerk Publishing; First edition (April 6, 2020). ISBN 3836269732 [9][10]

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

  • Street Photography: From Classic to Contemporary—Henri Cartier-Bresson and Craig Semetko (Open Shutter Gallery, Durango, Colorado, 2008)[11]
  • Craig Semetko: Street Photography (Leica Gallery, Frankfurt, 2009)[12]
  • Craig Semetko: Street Life (Leica Gallery, Salzburg, 2010)[12]
  • Craig Semetko: Unposed (Leica Gallery, New York City, 2011)
  • Semetko: Unposed (Leica Store, Washington, D.C., 2012). A selection from Unposed as well as E Pluribus Unum.[13]
  • AMFM Festival (Cathedral City, CA, 2013)[11]
  • America: E Pluribus Unum (Out of Many, One) (Open Shutter Gallery, Durango, Colorado, 2013)[14]
  • Craig Semetko—Unposed and Unseen (Leica Gallery Los Angeles, 2014)[15]
  • India Unposed (with Torsten Andreas Hoffmann, India on the move; Leica Gallery, Frankfurt, 2014)[16]
  • Unposed: India and elsewhere (Leica Gallery Singapore, 2015)[17]
  • India Unposed (Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, India, 2015)[7][4][18]
  • Funny Business (Leica GalleryNuremberg, 2017–2018)[19]
  • Craig Semetko: Funny Business (Street Photo Milano, 2018)[20]
  • Craig Semetko - For your Amusement (Leica Gallery Melbourne, 2019)[21]
  • Craig Semetko - For your Amusement (Leica Gallery Sydney, 2019)[22]

Group exhibitions

Videos

  • Craig Semetko: Portrait (uberartists, 2010)
  • How to use a Leica M Rangefinder: Craig Semetko (Leica Camera, 2014)
  • Craig Semetko: The Photographer’s Diet (Cooperative of Photography, 2017)[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Mufson, Beckett (3 January 2017). "The 4 Elements of a Great Candid Photo". Vice. Retrieved 2019-01-28.
  2. ^ "Craig Semetko live in Wetzlar // 2014 // Global // Actualités Leica // Univers Leica - Leica Camera AG". fr.leica-camera.com. Retrieved 2019-01-20.
  3. ^ a b c "Home". Craig Semetko. Retrieved 2019-01-20.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "India Calling: Photographer Craig Semetko's exhibition captures the humour and irony on Indian streets". The Indian Express. 1 June 2017. Retrieved 2019-01-28.
  5. ^ Lassiter, Ken (May 15, 2015). "The Charm of Serendipity: A Conversation with Craig Semetko". Photographer’s Forum Magazine. pp. 30–38. Archived from the original on January 21, 2019.
  6. ^ Sethi, Shikha (January 2016). "Ways of Seeing: How to be a better photographer (for the instagram generation)". GQ India. pp. 54–55.
  7. ^ a b c Paramita Ghosh (4 April 2015). "Looking for grey in Craig Semetko's India Unposed collection". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 2019-01-28.
  8. ^ Garfield, Simon (Winter 2014). "Dot Commerce. The Cult of Leica". Esquire, The Big Black Book Issue 4, autumn/winter 2014 UK edition. Retrieved 28 January 2019.[permanent dead link‍]
  9. ^ "Inspiration Leica Akademie // 2020 // Global // Leica News // World of Leica - Leica Camera AG". en.leica-camera.com. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  10. ^ Mertens, Heidi; Mertens, Robert (28 March 2020). Inspiration Leica Akademie. ISBN 978-3836269735.
  11. ^ a b Lisa Morgan, "Craig Semetko: World Renowned Photographer of the Absurd and the Ironic Showing at the AMFM Festival, June 13–16th, in Cathedral City", Coachella Valley Weekly, May 29, 2013. Retrieved 2019-01-28.
  12. ^ a b "Craig Semetko: Capturing the Authentic Human Experience, Part 1", Leica Blog, October 29, 2010. Retrieved January 2019-01-29.
  13. ^ "Craig Semetko: America: E Pluribus Unum", Leica Blog, October 17, 2012. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
  14. ^ Holteen, Ted (23 May 2013). "More than words can say". The Durango Herald. Retrieved 2019-01-28.
  15. ^ "Craig Semetko". Leica Gallery Los Angeles. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
  16. ^ "Craig Semetko – India Unposed & Torsten Andreas Hoffmann – India on the move", Leica Galerie Frankfurt. Retrieved 2019-01-28.
  17. ^ "Gallery Opening and Book Signing Session with Craig Semetko", Leica Store Singapore, as archived by the Wayback Machine on March 29, 2015.
  18. ^ "Craig Semetko". Vadehra Art Gallery. Retrieved 2019-01-28.
  19. ^ "Craig Semetko – Funny Business", Leica Store Nürnberg. Retrieved 2019-01-28.
  20. ^ "Exhibitions". Street Photo Milano. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
  21. ^ "Craig Semetko | For Your Amusement // News & Program // Leica Gallery Melbourne // Leica Galleries - Leica Camera AG". us.leica-camera.com. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  22. ^ "Leica Artist Talk & Exhibition with Craig Semetko – Visual Voyager". visualvoyager.net. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  23. ^ "Craig Semetko: Inside India Unposed", Leica Blog, August 22, 2014. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
  24. ^ "Leica Gallery Wetzlar Inaugural 10 x 10 Exhibition", Leica Blog, June 26, 2014. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
  25. ^ "10×10", Leica Fotografie International, June 24, 2014. Retrieved 2019-01-29.