Susan Seubert '92

Finding Freedom in Photography

— PNCA alumna —

When Susan Seubert prepared to leave her home in Indiana for an education at PNCA, she wasn’t thinking about becoming a successful, award-winning photographer.

“It’s daunting when you’re 18 and looking at the world, and thinking about what you want to do,” she says. “Being a photographer seems as good as any. You think it’ll be fun but you honestly don’t think you’ll ever be able to make a living at it.”

Fortunately for Susan, she was wrong. Though she downplays the amount of “schlepping” she did to bring her work to the attention of galleries and magazines, she tapped the resources available at the College, finding a mentor in Associate Professor Dianne Kornberg, winning valuable internships, and calling people associated with the school to ask for advice.

“Dahlia,” winner of the Elsie Award

She also learned from the curriculum itself, not just in photography, but in Foundation fundamentals such as drawing. “The teachers gave me a lot of freedom. As long as I worked, they were very encouraging and extremely open-minded. That was the key to me being able to explore. It’s important to learn how to be creativeÉ to have a vision and to learn how to see and to think.”

The exploration worked. Before graduating, Susan was discovered by what was then one of Portland’s leading art galleries. “While I was working on my senior thesis, I got a show at Jamison/Thomas. That was a total weird, bizarre stroke of luck. Instantly I was accepted as a member of the art community. It’s hard to make that leap from student to artist — it often takes a Master’s degree, or someone who is really driven.”

A six-year, part-time stint as assistant to editorial photographer Robbie McClaren provided Susan with commercial opportunities. “It allowed me to travel and see the world without joining the army,” she says. When she was ready to go out on her own as an editorial photographer, her boss kindly introduced her to all his clients.

Surfer Mindon Howard for Travel & Leisure Golf

In her first year working alone, she received a Life Magazine Alfred Eisenstaedt Award for Cover of the Year. Her editorial work continues to appear in The New York Times, Gourmet, House and Garden, Saveur, and Travel and Leisure magazines.

With three Portland galleries and a new client in National Geographic Traveler, Susan confesses that the doesn’t really have any goals, saying, “They’ve all been met. I have a ton of freedom, I don’t have to take a job if I don’t want to. For the most part, I’ve got great galleries.”

She shrugs. “All it really takes is one person — other than yourself or your mom — to believe in you.”

BFA Majors

Communication Design
General Fine Arts
Illustration
Intermedia
Painting
Photography
Printmaking
Sculpture