David Seltzer

David Seltzer was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Having received a degree in English and Psychology at the University of Missouri, Seltzer became interested in teaching himself photography. In 1973 he moved to New York City to be closer to what he perceived as the center of the photography world. Working as a taxi cab driver, Seltzer sought an assistant’s job with Richard Avedon and Arnold Newman; but the artistic milieu of his downtown meeting with Ralph Gibson galvanized him into pursuing photography as a fine art rather than as a commercial career. Over the years, Gibson’s support and influence has never wavered. In 1987 and again in1990, just prior to retiring from The Museum of Modern Art, the legendary curator, John Szarkowski, purchased two of Seltzer’s large scale works for the Museum’s permanent collection. Seltzer’s work is included in numerous public collections including the Museum of Modern Art, the International Center for Photography, the Norton Museum of Art, The Center for Creative Photography, the Denver art Museum.