Meet Zac Seewald: Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Zac Seewald and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Zac, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
My thought process when it comes to starting and maintaining Zac Seewald Photography is simple. I ask myself this question, “What do I want to spend most of my time doing?”. My answer has never once been “I would like to play it safe and work for somebody else doing something I don’t care about.” I am a creator, that is what my soul longs for. It is my purpose for being. It’s something I know without a shadow of a doubt. When I get up in the morning its the first thing I think about. I often have trouble going to sleep at night for thinking of all the things I can try tomorrow. I’m not a big fan of showing my work because it gets in the way of creating more, so even that has to become a creative process. The only thing I enjoy more is collaborating with others and creating things more amazing than anything I could have conceived on my own. That is the driving purpose behind ZSP.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am a photographer of architecture. In some ways I fell into the exact market that I am in. I began as a fine art photographer, but in order to keep the lights on, I moonlighted as an assistant to architectural photographer Chris Cooper out of New York. Through working with Chris, I learned how to photograph architecture and he became a mentor to me throughout my career. What excites me about what I do is that I get to celebrate what others have accomplished through their hard work and determination. Often clients are beaming with excitement to document years of work. When the average person sees a building, to them it is just that. But to an architect, its the physical manifestation of hard work, impossible problems solved, a collection of collaborations and much much more. I get to tell their story, showcase all of that hard work and innovation. That makes my heart smile. People by enlarge, see photography as just pointing the camera and shooting. If you take enough photos then there are bound to be some good ones in there. And in some cases they are correct. But what I do involves a deep level of collaboration, production and planning. It is a process of taking a massive 3 dimensional object design by someone else, and telling its story in a limiting 2 dimensional space. I have to dissect what I see and decide what is important to show, what can be inferred by the viewer and what can be outright eliminated. Being a professional photographer has not been an easy path, especially now with he pandemic in full swing. But at every challenging turn, I realize that quitting as an alternative is something I just can’t accept. I must move forward, and in order to do that, I think laterally.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would take them to Bennos in Galveston for lunch, then grab our boards and systematically take them to my favorite surf spots from Galveston to Corpus Christi.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Chris Cooper, a photographer out of New York, has been a mentor to me throughout my career. His advice and guidance has seen me through some of the most difficult aspects of being a photographer . Thanks for it all Chris!

Website: zacseewaldphotography.com
Instagram: @zsphotog
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacseewald/
Twitter: @zacphotography
Facebook: @ZacSeewaldPhotography

Image Credits
Marmon Mok Architects (San Antonio, TX), Dick Clark Architects (Austin, TX), Cusimano Architects (Houston, TX), Madera Fine Homes (Houston, TX)