ClampArt is pleased to announce “Zack Seckler: South Africa”—the artist’s first solo exhibition with the gallery. In his latest mission to capture stunning aerial views of land, sea, and wildlife, Zack Seckler took to the skies above South Africa for seven days from dawn until dusk in a tiny, single-propeller, light-sport aircraft. His abstract, minimalist photographs offer an extraordinary perspective of some of the planet’s most remote locations. Seckler used the maneuverability of the small plane to his greatest advantage, instructing the pilot to fly precisely to locations which caught his interest.

Describing the experience and the photographs produced: “I liken it to being over a giant canvas and being able to create brushstrokes. . ." He continues: "From elevations between 50 and 500 feet, the landscape hovers on the line between things looking very real and recognizable and being more abstract. That’s what really draws me in—the line between reality and abstraction.” Deliberately avoiding the horizon and often shooting from the plane window at an angle perpendicular to the ground adds to the disorientation of the curious, two-dimensional images. Other completed bodies of work include aerial landscapes of Iceland and Botswana.

Zack Seckler was born in Boston, and studied psychology at Syracuse University. Then, traveling solo with a point-and-shoot camera in northern India, his mind opened to the visual world. Upon returning to Syracuse, he took coursework in photography at the renowned Newhouse School. With an internship in a Hong Kong photo studio and editorial work in New York City, he developed his vision for image-making.