Tim Messick



Tim Messick
Davis, California

For all that I consider myself a "landscape photographer", it's no less fun and challenging to find and photograph peculiar objects, arrangements, and juxtapositions of things. Like three little white arrows pointing into a crevice between two buildings in midtown Sacramento. Or a small toy animal suspended by a purple noose from the courthouse fence in Bridgeport. Or the artificial flowers on a barbed-wire fence beside a dirt road in Nevada. Photographing "found objects" requires a somewhat different way of looking at and responding the world than other photographic genres. And working in a variety of genres helps to keep one's vision strong and flexible. 

About the Artist 


Tim's early years were spent mostly in Carmel, California, where early exposure to the art of Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, and others kindled an interest in photography. During his teens, in Santa Barbara, California, photography became an all-consuming passion. He photographed for his high school yearbooks and spent far too many weekends in the darkroom. He was very fortunate during these years to attend three Easter Week Workshops at the Friends of Photography, in Carmel. 

In college, a passion for natural history took hold, leading to a major in Botany at Humboldt State University. He spent a few summers collecting plants in the Bodie Hills of northern Mono County (still one of his favorite haunts) for his M.A. thesis. Professionally, he worked as a botanist with an environmental consulting firm in Sacramento for 13 years. Then an urge to pursue more creative (and less litigious) work prompted a move into graphic design, emphasizing information design, cartography, and visual simulations. He is now a senior graphic designer at ICF International in Sacramento. 

His photographic interests are diverse, including landscape, travel, architecture, night, and abstract, using both digital and film cameras. His web site is www.TimMessick.com 


Selected Exhibits and Publications: 


The Family of Mannequin (group exhibit), Viewpoint Photographic Art Center, Sacramento, CA (October 2017)
The Hand of Man (group exhibit), Gallery 1855, Davis, CA (June 2017)
Seeing in Sixes, Lenswork Publishing, 2016. Two 6-image portfolios: "Quiet Hour in the Mannequin Asylum" and "Reflecting on Bodie".
Points of View: Abstract Photography by f/8 (group exhibit), Pence Gallery, Davis, CA (November-December 2015)
Members' Exhibits (group exhibits), Viewpoint Photographic Art Center, Sacramento, CA (2011–2015)
Best of Seven (group exhibit), Gallery 1855, Davis, CA (August 2014)
A Walk in the Park (solo exhibit), Sacramento Poetry Center, Sacramento, CA (August, 2012)
Seeing Things (invitational exhibit), Emerson Center for Arts and Culture, Bozeman, MT (July-August 2012)

The Artists