BIO
Welcome, and thank you for visiting! While this website is still a work in progress, many of the images I’ve curated for you are available to explore.
My name is Petar. I am a self-taught photographer fueled by passion for film and storytelling since the time Titanic hit the iceberg on the big screen. Years of close analysis of cinematic visual voodoo have had a profound effect on my development both as a person and a photographer, and I am here to share it with you.
My journey began in 1986 in Yugoslavia, a country that no longer exists on the world map. Due to the Yugoslav Civil War of the 90’s, my family was forced to seek refuge in other parts of the globe. After several years of moving, we finally managed to settle down and begin again in Portland, Maine - a city I’m currently based out of, a city I call home.
Fueled by the conviction that soon everyone will have a camera and how it’ll be nearly impossible to “make it” as a photographer, I initially avoided pursuing photography as a career. Instead, I built short-lived careers as a historian, behavioral health professional, and a bartender.
Although each of these careers enriched me in unique ways, I came to realize that being a photographer for me was not just a potential career or a mere passion, but a calling, a way of living that infused me with a sense of balance and purpose. Moreover, it allowed me to connect with myself and the world around me in ways I deeply needed. I realized I had no choice, I had to pursue my calling no matter what. I had to go all-in and make photography my profession!
Photographed on the water, where salt and wind carve both stone and soul.
That was three years ago (2022). Since then, I have been fine-tunning my skills. Shooting and analyzing my work daily while simultaneously immersing myself in visions and works of some of the greatest to ever do it - Ernst Hass, Harry Gruyaert, Saul Leiter, Fred Herzog, Bruno Aveillan, Constantine Manos, Garry Winogrand, Steve McCurry, Sebastiao Salgado - has changed me as a photographer through and through.
The goal here is to create visual poetry that ignites imagination and nourishes the soul. Photography has taught me that the images I intuitively gravitate towards the most are those that are imbued with healing properties, images that often transcend the literal reality, lift the spirit out of darkness, and infuse it with a sense of peace, hope, and quite satisfaction.
Intuitive, sensitive, and endlessly curious, I pour pieces of my heart into every frame. Sometimes it emerges in a burst of vibrant color, other times in the quiet dance of light and shadow, or in the fleeting grace of a bird in flight. Each image is a reflection of the thoughts, feelings, and instincts that shape my worldview. I hope, as you explore this space, something stirs your own heart and lingers long after you’ve left.
With love,
Petar
ROOTS
A nostalgic little video I made in 2022 about a little patch of land situated in northern Dalmatia called Bukovica, it’s inhabitants, and their way of life. It is a place I call home and miss greatly.
The opening text reads as follows:
On the edge of southern Europe, nestled between the Dinaric mountains and the Adriatic Sea, in a region known as Bukovica, lies a small village where time stands still.
Just before the end of the twentieth century, civil war devastated the countryside.
Little remains…
However, if we dive a little deeper, we can still find traces of life that remind us of the life that once flourished here, instilling in us a measure of hope that life will once again come to bloom in this magical place.