Michael Sittig

Photography

I began taking pictures at fourteen. In 1965 I was drafted into the army and sent to Europe after basic training. It was there that I began learning the craft of black and white photography and printmaking. After my discharge, I immediately made a darkroom at home. I also took extension classes in the art of photography at the University of California at San Diego. I received encouragement from my instructors and fellow students and showed my work at The San Diego Fine Arts Gallery and The La Jolla Museum for Contemporary Art. 

1980 brought about a series of life changing events; I purchased a book by a doctor/photographer, Eliot Porter, and I went to work for Eastman Kodak Co. as an engineer. Eliot Porters' book inspired me to see in color and Kodak made color printing available to me. I was part of a rapidly developing technology enabling me to take pictures in the conventional way and recapture the images from film electronically and import them into my new darkroom, Photoshop .

After working for Kodak for twenty years with a team of very smart people, developing cutting edge technology in digital imaging, our little fifty million dollar a year division was sold to a holding company! I could see the writing on the wall and began making plans for retirement. Where else could I go but to Fort Bragg!