Sean Kerrick Sullivan: Photographic Inspiration

Professional commercial and editorial outdoor photographer Sean Kerrick Sullivan fondly remembers the time he spent in Steamboat Springs more than a decade ago earning his associate degree from Colorado Mountain College.

Sean was still on campus when he sold his first photograph commercially. Big Agnes, at that time a local outdoor start up, bought his shot of a friend enjoying the outdoors. They paid him with some money and a tent and “something kind of clicked right then and there,” Sean says. “I always knew photography was my calling, and the support of Big Agnes was the final push I needed. A lot of times the hardest part of any journey is those first couple of steps.”

Sean graduated from CMC in 2006 and went on to earn a BFA in photography from the University of Utah where he won the student art show.

In the decade since leaving CMC, Sullivan has gone on to become an accomplished photographer in his field. His work has landed him an illustrious list of clients including Orvis, Snowboarder Magazine, Warren Miller Entertainment, ESPN, Volcom, Transworld Snowboarding, Ski Utah, and more.

Every circle ends where it starts, and in 2016 Sullivan returned to Steamboat Springs as the commencement speaker for CMC’s graduation. “Steamboat really feels like home, and coming back feels like I’ve never left,” he says. “CMC is a cornerstone in the foundation of a dream that I’m still building, and the inspiration I found in the campus and community that surrounds it will always be in my blood, no matter how far I travel.”