Stuart Huck was born and raised in Chicago. His love for the natural world began with summer vacations on a small lake in Wisconsin and then numerous family camping trips and explorations. This fueled an interest in photography that began in his late teens. He took his first photography class at The Center of The Eye in Aspen. (It has since morphed into The Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass.) Formal photography studies continued at Columbia College in Chicago, then The University of New Mexico where he earned his degree with a special emphasis on the history of photography and alternative photographic processes. Returning to Aspen, he began a long association with The Hill Gallery of Photography where his large format color landscape photographs were a mainstay. His work found its way into many private and corporate collections. All the while, he continued studying with acknowledged leaders in the field, notably John Sexton, Bruce Barnbaum, Phillip Hyde, Jay Dusard and Jim Bones. His expertise in both color and black and white printing became well known in the surprisingly large photographic community in the Aspen area.
Stuart began teaching photography at Colorado Mountain College in Aspen in the early 80’s. In addition to camera and darkroom classes, he has led numerous photography workshops in the mountains around Aspen and also the desert canyons of Southern Utah. For the CMC Professional Photography program, he taught courses in The History of Photography and Visual Perception. He has also led workshops for The Sierra Club and the UCSD Wilderness Medicine program.
In the 90’s he opened a custom photography lab and studio in Basalt, just down valley from Aspen. One of his customers there was Norman Gershman, an active photographer and retired Wall Street headhunter. Their mutual interests and similar philosophy about photography led to a strong friendship. Just as the digital revolution in photography was taking its toll on all traditional photography labs, Norman asked Stuart for his assistance and expertise on a new project he was undertaking, photographing “righteous” Muslims in Albania. Sensing an opportunity of historic proportions, he jumped at the chance. In planning the trip, they decided how they would work as a team, with Stu handling the technical side, making sure that the camera settings and light were perfect, and Norm concentrating on making compelling portraits. As a team, they functioned extremely well together, and continue sharing the tasks of this project today. In addition to the field work, Stu has made a 25 minute video about the project, using the photographs they made in Albania with a voice-over by Norm. And he designed the cover for the book, “Besa – Muslims Who Saved Jews In World War II.”
When not photographing up in the mountains or down in the desert, Stu can be found on his bike, and on the air. “Jazz On A Thursday Night,” a show he has hosted on Aspen Public Radio for some 20 years can be heard live or as a podcast. And, of course, many hours are spent in his digital dark room, making the images and scenes seen in his camera, come alive as prints.
