Robert Vano is a photographer who differs greatly from the experimental contemporary photographers who, with the aid of the latest technology, enthusiastically are trying to change the face of art photography.

With his use of the platinum printing technique, Robert Vano returns to photography’s roots and allows his photographs to work their magic through light. Platinum prints are popular with investors and collectors thanks to their wide tonal range, surface quality, and especially their long lifespan. The precious metal produces an unparalleled beauty through its span of tones, from warm black through reddish to brown, which is unattainable in gelatin silver prints. Platinum printing is not only beautiful, but it is also is among the most permanent of all photographic processes. The platinum group metals (platinum and palladium) are more stable than gold, and it is estimated that a properly made platinum print will last thousands of years.

Robert Vano was born in 1948 in Nové Zámky, Slovakia. In 1967, when he was 19 years old and soon after graduation, he emigrated via Italy to the United States. He began working in New York as a hairstylist and make-up artist.

He worked as an assistant to big-name fashion photographers including Horst
P. Horst, Marco Glaviano, Catel, Fallai, Nádir and Malerbi. In 1984 he began working as an independent Photographer in New York, Paris and Milan. His work appeared in magazines including Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, Elle, Cosmopolitan and others.

Aside from numerous solo exhibitions, he has also participated in group shows.

In 2008 a book-length interview by David Hrbek was published under the title Sometimes Paradise.

Jana Bomer, Leica Gallery Prague