Our Spotlights series is moving its focus to another creative talent who’s making the most of Spectrum’s support. Cheshire-born photographer Colin Potsig has taken Northumberland to his heart and finds inspiration from the people and places of the North East.
Our Spotlights star Colin Potsig may have been born on the other side of the country, but he loves his adopted Northumberland for its wild landscapes and huge skies. He also find inspiration for his photography in some of the less glamorous parts too!
As well as photographing landscapes, Colin Potsig’s favourite subject is people. ‘’I’m a very visual person. I find the human face fascinating and like to portray it in different ways,’’ he tells us.
Jane in facepaint for the home series 
Larry for the home series 
Mel the coal man in his baseball cap for the home series
One of the key characteristics of autism is difficulty communicating. Colin Potsig understands how just meeting someone’s gaze can be overwhelming for someone with autism, but he knows how to put his sitters at ease.
‘’It’s incredible how the camera can actually help break the intensity of that gaze.’’
Colin Potsig’s determination to use his photography to challenge aspects of his own autism has been brought to life with several acclaimed exhibitions, including ‘You, Me and Autism’ which is one of his proudest achievements.
Adam for the you, me and autism project 
Amanda for the you, me and autism project 
Owen for the you, me and autism project 
Sioned for the you, me and autism project
Kaner Flex, dancer and model, was the cover star of Colin’s ‘You Me and Autism Too’ project. With funding from The Arts Council and support from Spectrum Enterprises, Colin put his spotlight on a number of famous faces with autism who have carved out successful professional careers.
For ‘You, Me and Autism Too’ Colin experimented with a more fluid and expressionistic approach to portraiture, working with his sitters to add other elements to tell more of a story.
Paul Wady collage for the you, me and autism too project. 
Violet with her words for the you, me and autism too project. 
Wenn with his words for the you, me and autism too project.
Anne Hegarty of The Chase is probably the most recognisable face of Colin Potsig’s ‘You, Me and Autism Too’ exhibition, but little lion is the most talked about!
You can see more of Colin’s work on his website at https://colinpotsig.co.uk/projects/
The creativity continued flowing for Colin, and another collaboration with poet Kate Fox for the Welcome Collection looked at the impact of lockdown on people with autism.
See more at https://bit.ly/cpotsig
Spectrum Enterprises likes to bring people together and we’ve engineered a few successful collaborations! We arranged for Colin Potsig to photograph some of the other people that Spectrum works with and this is his lockdown portrait of last month’s Spotlights star, Will Carter.
Colin’s portraits don’t stop at humans and landscapes. This is his gorgeous pug pup Willow, who sometimes stands still enough to have her portrait taken!
To round off our Spotlight on photographer Colin Potsig we asked him which photo he was most proud of. ‘’I’m proud of all of them,’’ Colin told us, so we’re linking through to his website gallery where you can take a look for yourself.
Find your favourite at http://bit.ly/colpotgallery
