User:Photozaya/sandbox

Roman Loranc is a traditional black and white photographer from Poland. His architectural and landscape photographs are becoming increasingly well known around the world; his work is included in the permanent collections of the George Eastman House in Rochester New York, The National Art Museum of China in Beijing, and The Bibliothèque Nationale de France. And he is represented by several prestigious galleries, including The Ansel Adams Gallery in the Yosemite Valley, The Weston Gallery in Carmel, Photography West in Carmel. National Art Museum of China

Early life
Roman Loranc was born near Bielsko-Biala and lived in Poland during the communist era. When he was 26 he immigrated to Madison Wisconsin. Very soon afterwards, he moved to Modesto, California, and he now resides in Northern California. He began his journey as an artist in the 1960s when his God-parents gave him a 35mm format Druch camera for his first communion. The camera broke not long afterwards, but from that moment on, Roman felt incredibly drawn to photography; because it gave him, as he describes "the ability to slice a moment out of time and hold it as a print in my hands". Also, in his words, he "soon came to feel a consuming fascination with the chemical photographic process that, after exposure to light and immersion in developer, allows grains of silver to form first on the negative and then again on a final print".

Career
After immigrating to the United States in the early 1980's, Roman traveled extensively across the country. Soon after his arrival he decide to make California his home. Since then he has spent over three decades photographing the West Coast of the United States, and occasionally he returns to Europe and travels with his camera ready to explore and capture new images. His most well known work includes California's native oaks, serene wetlands, complex vineyards, and native grasses. He has also photographed architecture, primarily in California, Poland, Lithuania, Croatia, Italy, France, China. He lives and works in northern California, near Mount Shasta.

Environmental awareness
Roman Loranc's landscape photographs have helped to bring attention to the unfavorable environmental changes occuring in California, such as the disapperance of the wetlands. He stated in an interview with Black and White magazine, that he hopes when people see his photographs they will want to help protect and preserve these fragile lands which serve various purposes including providing a habitat for endangered wildlife.

Photographic technique
Loranc uses a 4x5 Linhof view camera which gives his work such superb detail. He then produces silver gelatin prints, and spots and mounts each print himself. He describes how he learned the process of producing a print, "at first I learned by doing things on my own. I didn’t have the wonderful books by Ansel Adams, or the technical manuals by Kodak, but what I did have were photography history books that described chemical formulas for developers, stop baths and fixers and with that knowledge I began processing my film and printing my negatives". He now teaches photography workshops at his studio located near Mount Shasta.

Works
A few of Roman Loranc's notable works are Private Road with Clouds, Two Hearted Oak, "Absolution" and Billowing Clouds over Bay Bridge. Roman's work has been featured in several photography books and magazines. His first solo book, Two Hearted Oak was released in 2003 and focuses primarily on his peaceful images of the wetlands in California's Central Valley. Gallery owner Carol Skooglund stated in an interview that this sold out book "has become a collectors item, it originally sold for $40 but has gone for a couple hundred dollars on the Internet". Loranc's second book Fractal Dreams is a collection of two decades of his work from his travels through Europe and around California. His third book Absolution, Fifty Photographs from Europe, received the prestigious award of the United States Literary Award in the category of Fine Art Photography in 2013. Roman's fourth book will be released on September 15th. The Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite Valley will be hosting a book signing; an event which is open to the public.

Photographic Books
Traces, 2018. Poems by Robert Lax, Essay by Anthony Bannon, published by Roman Loranc Photography Studio

Absolution; Fifty Photographs from Europe, 2013, Poem by Pablo Neruda, Essay by Anthony Bannon, published by Photography West Graphics, Inc.

Fractal Dreams; Photographs from Two Decades, 2009, published by Photography West Graphics, Inc.

Two Hearted Oak, The Photography of Roman Loranc, 2003, published by Heyday Books, Berkeley.

Print
2018 Apr, Black & White Magazine, Roman Loranc: A Meditative View, Interview by David Best, https://www.bandwmag.com/articles/roman-loranc-a-meditative-view

2015 Aug, The Photo Fundamentalist, Beneath the Image: Interview with Landscape Photographer Roman Loranc, by Thomas Stanworth, http://thephotofundamentalist.com/masters/roman-loranc-interviewed-by-tpf/

2004 Aug, Black & White Magazine, Spotlight Roman Loranc, Introduction by David Best, https://www.bandwmag.com/back-issues/bw-no-32

Video
2018, West Coast Focus, Interview by Steve Zmak, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiXkd25yUgA

2014, Turlock Journal, Roman Loranc Retrospective at the Carnegie Arts Center, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2_FlmyJz4M

2010, Fine Art Photography Weekly on SMIBS TV, Interviewed by Peter Urban, Roman Loranc and Traditional Darkroom Photography, https://vimeo.com/13845816

2009, KQED Spark, Roman Loranc: The River Wild, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9D1Li1ZCDA

Awards
2015, King of Photography Award, Beijing, China

2015, Elected one of 10 finalists for International Master of Photography, Photo Shanghai

2014, Carnegie Arts Center Distinguished Artist.

2013, Absolution: Fifty Photographs from Europe received the prestigious United States Literary Award in the category of Fine Art Photography.

2010, Fractal Dreams; Photographs from Two Decades, received the Best of Category - Art Books Award, by Printing Industries of Southern California (PIASC)