Fashion Photography by Sean Scheidt, photos of Scheidt were taken by Christopher Rondo
Painting a Fashionable Photograph, with Sean Scheidt
Usually found on the other side of the lens, Sean Scheidt, a fashion photographer out of Baltimore, lent me something he cares for as deeply as one would care for their most precious possession: his camera. Shooting between questions and conversation, Sean taught me a good bit about photography during our time together.
Jump back, for a moment, and picture an aspiring painter high school. That’s where the foundation for Sean’s chosen medium was set. Although having taken some photography classes in school,. “I was always a painter,” Sean told me during our conversation. He went to confess that he was never satisfied with the translated images once finished. He began to experiment with developing photos to canvas, and other mixed media approaches to the art, and simply found himself deeply immersed in the world of the photography.
Predominantly a fashion photographer, Sean has always enjoyed the personal aspect of the genre. Most fashion photography is about stylized clothing, but Sean has always been intrigued by faces. Not necessarily the beautiful ones, it’s the interesting faces that pique his interest. “My work tends to have more emotion behind it,” Sean remarked, “because the focus is on the people.”
When asked what sets his work apart in the photography world – after many long sips of salted caramel mocha and a few pensive scratches at his beard, Sean told me that his differentiator would have to be his ability to challenge his models or sitters to bring something different out of themselves, and his attention to light.
“Light has to compliment the entire vision of the shoot,” says Sean. It has to be natural and perfect. You have to be able “to use a tool for the end result, not use a tool just because you have it.” Sean’s diner shoot for the February/March issue of Girls’ Life is a perfect testament to his philosophy. Natural mid-afternoon sunlight had to be created and maintained for the duration of the shoot.
Sean is hard-pressed to choose a favorite from his own work. Admitting that there have been ones that he’s hated and others he has loved deeply, he challenges himself in a new way, with each shoot and each step forward. “I fall in love with each [of my shoots],” and thanks to this attitude of perseverance and finding new knowledge, and progress within each challenge. Sean notes, “I wouldn’t have been able to do five years ago what I can today,” it’s a learning process.
Having worked for Girls’ Life, a regular client of Sean’s, Inked Girls, and Baltimore Magazine, the socialite has established a rapport with various modeling agencies and maintains relationships on a more personal level for his individual clients. In a city of dreamers, some big dreams are bound to be realized. Sean’s are to shoot primarily for major, national publications such as GQ, Esquire, etc. Equipped with perseverance, an unyielding drive to expand his own knowledge, and a remarkable ability to cultivate meaningful relationships with his clients, Sean is photographer whose business and body of work are sure to grow and flourish.
“People come to me because I have a vision,” says Sean. This statement is true, and what’s more, Sean Scheidt is an artist that sees his vision through to the end.
