Charles Mintz

Charles “Chuck” Mintz (b. 1948) is a Cleveland photographer known for the intensely personal stories he portrays through his photos. Mintz often works in a traditional portrait format, utilizing his subjects’ relationship to objects and their environments to tell intimate and meaningful stories about their lives.

Since his deciding in 2008 to make his photography a full-time career, Mintz’ practice has shifted from capturing anonymity within public spaces to focusing on the feelings of subjects that were once private and kept from the world. Whether they are living within small towns, large cities, or the suburbs in-between, they all appear to exist in the same realm, connected through contemporary culture and universal ideas within our society.

As a result of his successful portrayal of such themes, he has been widely recognized for his work. Within the last ten years he has been awarded First Place at the 69^th Ohio Annual at the Zanesville Museum of Art in Zanesville, Ohio (2013), the Ohio Art Council Individual Excellence Award (2015, 2017), Ohio Art Council Individual Excellence Award (2015), and Second Prize at Interiors at the New York Center for Photographic Art in New York, New York (2016).

Mintz has exhibited globally, including at the Toy Art Exhibition at MuBe in Sao Paolo, Brazil (2011), the Face-to-Face at the VHS-Photogallerie in Stuttgart, Germany (2014), the WPGA Summer Show-Best in Category and Pollux Awards Finalist at the 3^rd Biennial of Documentary and Fine Art Photography in Malaga, Spain (2014), The Photobook Show and Lustron Stories at Athens Photo Festival in Athens, Greece (2015, 2017), and PHOTOMUSE at Museum of Photography in Kerala, India (2020).

His work has also been exhibited across the United States and regionally in the 76^th, 77^th, 78^th, and 80^th Annual Midyear Exhibition at The Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio (2012, 2013, 2014, 2016), 57^th and 60^th Annual Exhibition at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York (2014, 2017), the May Show at Lakeland Community College in Kirtland, Ohio (2018, 2019), and Riffe Gallery 2021 Biennial Juried Exhibition at Medici Museum in Warren Ohio (2022).

Prior to his success as an artist, Mintz studied at Purdue University where he received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and Cleveland State University, where he earned a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering. However, Mintz took photography courses over the years at Main Photographic Workshop, Parsons School of Design, International Center for Photography, Lakeland Community College, and Cuyahoga Community College.

His artwork is within many private and public collections internationally, most notably the Smithsonian Museum of American History.