High school junior excels in several art forms

By Staff Writer: Eliza Bengala

Like thunder always follows lightning, if you see a flash somewhere within the walls of Howell High School, it’s likely that HHS junior Gabe Seck will follow.

The interview with Seck started at the beginning of 7th hour, but sitting and talking is too professional, so we decided to get up and walk around the school. And this is where the art tour began.

Seck is a photographer, a passion that she’s had since she was 18 months old after her parents took her to get her first professional portrait taken by a woman by the name of Joceyln.

“Joceyln calls me her baby since she’s been photographing me since I was just a baby,” Seck says. It’s easy to see the affection and respect that Seck has for the inspiring woman as she speaks about their first precious sessions together.

Seck is a well-known photographer around HHS. She’s the main photographer for the HHS student run news publication, The Main Four, as well as The Main Four’s official Facebook page.

“I have a list in The Main Four room that I call ‘The Main Four hit-list’ where they [the writers] write down the names of people that they need me to take pictures of. So when I go and take people’s pictures, I go up to them and say, “Hey, you’re on my hit-list!”

In addition to being the feature photographer for The Main Four, Seck photographs for the high school yearbook, The Torch. Because the yearbook class and The Main Four are both in the 7th hour time slot, Seck has two 7th hour classes that depend on her for photographs.

Even though Seck is best known around HHS for her photography, she is also one of only two A.P. Art students at HHS.

“They [Howell Public Schools] cut the A.P. Art program a few years ago. So Ms. Rose O’Reilly had me take A.P. Art as in independent study.” Part of A.P. art is painting. Seck pulls out her phone and shows me a painting of a flower on a piece of glass. I can’t help but feel impressed with the artwork as she swipes the screen to show the next picture and I feel slightly shocked. The painting had been broken into pieces and the pieces had been glued back together randomly so that it’s no longer a painting of a flower, but bits and pieces of a flower glued together.

“A lot of the people don’t understand this [the glass painting] but I think it’s beautiful.” It’s at this point that Seck and I walk into the room that the firefighter class uses. We walk past two fire engines and a line of oxygen tanks when Gabe points at the wall. About 12 feet up is a mural of a window. Seck doesn’t hesitate to invite me up onto the lift that she uses to get to the height that is needed to paint.

“The firefighters use this to practice climbing the ladders,” Seck says. The window is painted on a cinder block wall, and although it is only used for practice, Seck can’t help but add her personal artistic touches which include curtains and a candle sitting on the sill.
As we walk out of the classroom, Seck rubs a red blotch on her arm to confirm that it is only paint and not blood.

“My boyfriend would be concerned if I didn’t have paint on my hands,” says Seck, showing off the red, green, and yellow paint marks all on her hands and arms from an earlier project.

“I don’t really have a life,” Seck replied when asks how she juggles all of the projects that teachers and administrators ask her to do. It’s at this point of the interview where Ms. Haskins, The Main Four advisor interrupts us, asking Seck to make sure that she photographs an upcoming assembly. Even though Seck already has a full workload, she is happy to do anything for her teachers who’ve helped and inspired her so much.

“All of my art teachers have inspired and helped me. I don’t know where I would be without them. Well, sure not here making art.

In fact, Seck has been so inspired by all of her teachers that she aspires to be a K-5 art teacher one day.

“All of my teachers tell me that my life [as an art teacher] is going to be hard at first, but it will get better. They know that I can get through it.

“I like children,” Seck adds. “I think that we all should.” There’s no doubt that with Seck’s passion for art and children, she will surely succeed as an art teacher.

If Seck isn’t creating art, she’s playing with her two-year-old brother, James.

“I love him so much. He’s made me messier, louder, happier, and all around just a better person.” Seck recalls a time she and James were playing “camera” with an old Polaroid camera that didn’t have any film in it. It’s obvious that Seck will pass her passion for photography and art down to James.

After the interview ended, Seck asked me to do her two favors.

“I don’t want this article written about me because I don’t want the [Main Four] staff to think I’m trying to be all that and get attention, so please try to make me sound humble.

“Also, try not to make me sound weird.”

Gabe Seck is anything but weird. She is a great friend, sister, and amazing artist, although it’s hard not to depict her as being a little strange when the last portion of the interview consisted of her saying this: “I’m a ninja… secretly… on the weekends…between two and six…”