A former student of Ansel Adams is now turning his lens on the natural beauty of the Hawai‘i, with stunning results. Victor Giordano’s photographic portfolio ranges from Island landscapes and seascapes to botanicals and natural abstracts, but his special passion is Hawaii’s waterfalls. He speaks reverently of the “overwhelming grandeur” of these settings, and has set himself the happy task of documenting the state’s waterfalls in his photo art.

Waterfalls may seem an unusual choice for black and white treatment, but a glance at Giordano’s portfolio quickly reveals how this subject and medium can create magic together. The flowing streams glow in the sheerest white, while the lava rocks offer a rich range of blacks. Lagoons, flora, and sky contribute an infinite range of grays. The resulting image, carefully composed to suggest dynamic motion in a timeless stillness, captivate the eye and stir the soul.

Giordano says he seeks to create emotion in every scene, but he refuses to perform digital image manipulation in his art photography. Instead, he embraces a rigorous classical discipline of medium-format, black and white film for his nature shots. He traces this purist approach to his early years of study under some of the world’s great photographers including Ansel Adams, Brett Weston, Cole Weston, Morley Baer, Joyce Tenneson, Al Weber and Minor White. The aesthetics of Adams and Weston, in particular, remain a lifelong inspiration.

Born in Montclair, New Jersey in 1953, Giordano bought his first camera, a medium format yashica, at age 14. By the age of 20, he opened a camera store to help support his family. He earned his fine arts B.A. from the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Beyond his artistic work, Giordano is also a sought-after commercial photographer. He assists the Kauai Film Commission to help the motion picture industry capture the beauty of the Islands, and accepts assignments for landscapes from prestigious individual private clients and public institutions. Hundreds of students seek out his hands-on photography workshops, which have been featured in Outdoor Photographer Magazine.

More of this master artist’s oeuvre may be found at www.victorgiordano.com.