Bio
| "To create interesting light, you have to create interesting shadows." -- Syl Arena Back when the Apollo program was headline news, Syl Arena, then a precocious eight-year old, "borrowed" his father's new-fangled Polaroid camera, climbed up into an orange tree and made his first solo photograph - a snapshot of a baby dove. Later that year, his great-aunt gave him a Brownie 626 camera to feed his fascination. Syl's affliction for making photographs has remained steadfast for over 40 years. In college, Syl studied at Brooks Institute of Photography and then earned a BFA in photography at the University of Arizona. As a student, his favorite cameras spanned the gamut from 4x5 to a homemade, 20x24 pinhole. Syl mastered the zone system of black and white printing. Then, during his retro-phase, worked in a number of 19th-century media, such as cyanotypes and carbon prints. Today, Syl photographs the people, lifestyles and products of central California for advertising, editorial, and corporate clients. Whether it's a single glass of wine or a group of winemakers, America's most popular rose or the man who bred it, the world's fastest sailboat or the team that races it, Syl has the expertise and the personality to create memorable photographs -- both on location and in the studio. |
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