Dubi Roman

Artist Bio

Home / Artists / Dubi Roman / Bio

Profile

Portfolio

Slideshow

Bio

Contact

Website

Artist Bio

Dubi Roman (publication of www.londonart.co.uk - Artist of the Week)

"Creation is mankind's ultimate treasure. In this Crazy region, during this time of bloodshed, when darkness intends to drown us all, Arabs and Jews, I'm trying to emphasize hope; a few rays of light behind the shadows, a blossomed leaf, a flower's teardrop and the smell of mud after rain. I simply wish to force us to take an inner look into God's mirror, to realize how much we've got to lose...Nature photography is kind of a prayer, I am praying for us all." Dubi Roman.

Born in Haifa in 1957, Dubi Roman's art is deeply rooted in his family's spiritual history and geographical location. Roman's family have lived in the holy city of Safed for five generations. Safed, nestled in the mountains of Upper Galilee, is one of the four sacred Jewish cities, and was once the spiritual centre of Jewish life. Despite being plagued by earthquakes, which have raised the city several times, the faithful have always flocked to Safed and still continue to do so today. A cobble-stoned town where the orthodox synagogues co - exist with off beat artists' studios and galleries it is where his grandfather before him,Yitzchak Roman was a famous artist and Sculptor. Although Dubi lives in the heart of this spiritual city, he constantly looks to nature for sustenance and searches for his own spiritual solace outside the city walls, amongst the landscape of Israel's, trees, fields and flowers.

Inspired by Impressionist painting, Roman developed his own unique photographic processes and techniques, an impressionistic way of expressing his own vision of nature through photography. "The technique I use - based on multiple exposures, changing planes of focus, soft focusing and scattered light - gives a romantic and impressionistic effect, coloured in the colours of dreams. It became my path of expressing myself and a way of exposing my heart," he explains.

In the same way that the Impressionist's major preoccupations were with the perception and recording of light and colour, Dubi uses film to capture a greater awareness of light and colour within the shifting pattern of the natural scene. "In general, I think the subconscious mind is a bit misty and out of focus," he says. "Lower definition seems to be a key element for the ability to capture deeply buried sights: our visual memories and deepest wishes or fears. In my opinion, we need to have sights with lower resolutions in order to make us listen more carefully to our inner voices."

Established in Paris during the 1870's the Impressionists' based their painting practice on a technique which was pioneered in Britain by Constable around 1813-17. Painting a picture, from start to finish from within the actual landscape, as opposed to simply making sketches and then completing the work when back in the studio, their new way of painting landscape and scenes of everyday life was developed predominantly in France by a group of artists including Monet, Degas, Renoir and Pissaao. By deliberately manipulating the light that is allowed to reach his film, Dubi Roman can control it's effect on the image, at the time of its original source.

As is the Impressionists way, Dubi Roman's images are created solely outdoors - from start to finish - deep in the Israel nature and its great landscapes. "I use nothing but traditional photography, no filters are used and no lab or computer manipulation is utilised." "Spooky" night in the woods, one of Roman's most successful photographs is an excellent example of the kind of lengths he will go to, to capture his vision of nature& "We worked in a large group that night at the Yarkon Park and added several flashlights against the dark trees and grass. During the long exposure the clouds simply painted their way in the sky. Since there was a relatively long exposure with lots of city lights - the image took on a weird colour of its own."

Dubi Roman's photographs have been featured in more than 30 exhibitions worldwide, won multiple awards, and have been the subject of over 30 press articles and reviews. His works are collected by corporate collectors and by individuals in Tel Aviv, the UK, and the USA. Roman is the Senior Editor at Israel Educational Television since 1983 and has been a professional Nature-Art Photographer since 1994.

Artist Highlights