Today we’d like to introduce you to Patrick St. Cin.
Patrick, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Where to start… photography has been woven into the fabric of my life for decades. I still remember being an adolescent, fiddling with my dad’s Kodak Brownie, trying to figure out how to create depth of field. I didn’t know what it was called, but I had a hunch the camera held the key. That curiosity never left me.
Over the years, many people have influenced my photographic journey. It’s hard to name just one. An uncle once taught me how to print a color photograph. A neighbor—the high school photographer—sparked my imagination. But one moment that’s stuck with me for life came from a U.S. Navy instructor who, in four swift snips of a pair of scissors, showed me how to fill the frame of a 4×5 negative. It was simple, brilliant, and unforgettable.
My time in the Navy as a Photographer’s Mate gave me a foundation that was both technical and deeply human. It was there that I began to understand the distinction between taking pictures and making images.
After leaving the service, I set out to “set the world on fire” with my photography. I quickly learned there’s a world of difference between having a creative vision and running a photography business. Fortunately, with the support of my wife, I earned a Bachelor’s degree in Photographic Science and Instrumentation. That led me to Silicon Valley, where I spent 20 years as an engineer—honing my technical discipline while keeping a camera close at hand.
In the past 15 to 20 years, my focus has shifted back to photography in earnest. For a long time, I worked almost exclusively with film—silver halide was my medium of choice for landscapes and florals. There was a meditative process to it: seeing a scene, finding the composition, and then quietly making the image. I remember photographing water lilies with my 6×6 film camera when a fellow photographer stopped to boast about taking over 3,000 shots in two weeks with his new digital camera. My response? “Did you get any images… or just pictures?”
That day, I made a single frame—and when it was exhibited, someone accused me of photoshopping the colors. I hadn’t. That was the magic of film.
Today, I work almost exclusively in digital, but my passion for film hasn’t faded—especially large format. Digital tools have made certain things easier, sure, but the heart of my process hasn’t changed. I still approach every subject—whether an abstract, panorama, landscape, floral, or manmade object—with the same intent and care that I learned years ago. The technology has evolved, but the vision remains rooted in craft, patience, and the pursuit of storytelling through still images.
Over the years, I’ve had the honor of sharing my work in several meaningful spaces. I’ve exhibited in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, and had individual pieces shown at the Buddy Holly Center in Lubbock and the Arlington Museum of Art in Arlington, Texas. Each opportunity has been a chance to connect—with viewers, with fellow artists, and with the deeper reasons I make images in the first place. Recently I completed a solo exhibit at the Georgetown Library in Georgetown, Texas—a space that offers the perfect backdrop to reflect on this journey and the ever-evolving landscapes, both literal and creative, that continue to inspire me. On June 30th of this year, my work will be incorporated in to a video to accompany the musical talents of composer Linda Marcel and premier at the Accademia Filarmonica Romana, in Rome, Italy.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Has it been a smooth road? Not quite. As a creative with a technical background and an engineer’s mindset, the path has been anything but predictable. The challenge has never been in operating the tools—it’s in creating emotional weight. Capturing a sense of grandeur in a landscape or drawing intimacy from a single bloom often feels just out of reach. Translating the vision in my head into a two-dimensional photograph continues to stretch me, even after all these years.
I’ve come to accept that I’ll always be a student of the photographic arts. And truthfully, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
If there’s one piece of advice I’d offer to other creatives—it’s to surround yourself with fellow artists. Talk about your work. Disagree sometimes. Learn from each other, influence each other. And above all, teach. Even if you think you’re not “qualified,” teach. Because every time you explain a part of your process to someone else, you end up learning more about yourself. Every conversation, every shared moment, helps you refine who you are and what you’re trying to say with your art.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My photography takes me everywhere. Landscapes and nature are what has driven me for many years. Using the elements that are given to me by Mother Nature pushes my creative side. Foreground elements, for me, create a sense of scale and depth. Most recently, panorama photography has gotten a grip on me. Our peripheral vision is extremely wide but we have been visually taught to see what the camera sees, which is about 40%-60% of what we are capable of seeing. Working with my foreground element style, I am finding that creating a panoramic image is challenging.
Likewise, my current abstract style is rather refreshing to me. Technical excellence is what my images strive to depict. But having sharp well-defined images of are now the starting place for my abstracts. Using the digital media for recording, an electronic canvas and the “paintbrushes” of today, allows me to be more creative in the digital darkroom than ever before. I am looking forward to seeing what develops in the future.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
It is my belief that Creatives have a strong need to communicate with other Creatives on a regular basis. These meetings and discussions may be about art, life, politics or the mundane aspects of daily living. But in the end the Creative needs time to be in his/her head. To see with their mind’s eye and transform what is presented to them into the art they create. Creatives need a community to surround them physically but allow them to grow mentally and artistically.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.PhotosbyPatrick.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/photosbypatrickaustin
- Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/HoneyCreekArtPrints/
