Rangefinder Magazine
July 2006

Anton Brkic by Paul Slaughter
The Winding Road to Becoming a Portrait Photographer

When passing a photographer’s studio window at the De Vargas Mall in northeast Santa Fe, NM, I always notice a large, commanding portrait of an elderly man with a long, white beard, wearing a World War II army cap and a uniform loaded with medals. The portrait always impresses me. Last summer I took my son, Alex, to get a passport photograph at this studio, Pixel Images. A pleasant young man named Rafael welcomed us and led us from the reception area into the studio, where I saw more portrait prints lying on a table. They were strong, simple, well lit, and I could see they were created with care and an excellent knowledge of technique. Rafael took Alex’s picture quickly and professionally with a digital camera designed specifically to do identification and passport pictures. Afterwards I mentioned that I enjoyed the portrait work I had seen. Rafael showed me more prints and informed me the photographer was his brother-in-law, Anton BrkiC. I took a card and made a mental note to call and meet with Anton.

A few weeks later,I met Anton,who was friendly, gregarious and unassuming. I was also welcomed by his ever faithful studio companion, Max, an energetic Jack Russell terrier. I was privileged to see more of Anton’s fine art portraits and some excellent landscape photographs.

Anton was born in Croatia. His family left Croatia when he was three years old to start a new life in the beautiful central interior of British Columbia, Canada. Anton loved art since childhood: “In the fifth grade I discovered I was good at painting and drawing, but in the eighth grade I decided to choose a scientific career since I enjoyed and excelled at mathematics.”

In 10th grade, Anton became editor of his school’s yearbook. The sponsor of the yearbook club lent him a rangefinder camera and a light meter to photograph the school’s activities. This was his first experience making photographs.

After high school Anton entered the University of British Columbia to study engineering. He recalls, “I got through the first year quite well, but following years would prove problematic. A friend from Stanford first exposed me to the quality of SLR cameras. His photos were cool! The photos he showed me were so much better than I had been able to make when I was the yearbook editor. The proofs had that ‘wow’ quality. I was wowed by a lot of things at the university and was struggling to make passing grades in my engineering class. The dean’s office strongly urged me to take some time out and decide if engineering was for me. I decided to travel the world.”

To earn money for the trip and new photography equipment, Anton worked on a construction job in northern Canada. There he met another friend who had an SLR camera, and once again he saw pictures with that “wow” quality. Anton was advised to purchase a good camera for his planned travels. He bought a Nikkormat FT2 with a 55mm Micro-Nikkor lens for $500. Anton’s father, a farmer, was not pleased with his decision, and told him he could have bought a good cow for $500. Anton says, “It was clear that I didn’t have any encouragement in photog- raphy. I searched bookstores for photography books and became impressed with the work of Art Kane, Jeanloup Sieff, Elliott Erwitt and Raghu Rai. They became my visual heroes.”

For a year Anton traveled and photographed in the South Pacific, NewZealand and Australia. He went back to Canada knowing he was not ready for engineering school. Anton decided to take another trip—this time an overland sojourn from London to Kathmandu. He bought 50 rolls of Kodachrome, and off he went. “I had big dreams of becoming a photojournalist and shooting for National Geographic. In India I was overwhelmed by the poverty of the human condition. I felt it was wrong to stick my camera into someone’s face and record his or her misery. I hardly took any pictures in India. However, a seed was planted. I had developed a keen interest in the human face. Portraiture was for me.” Anton’s trip across Asia took 10 months. He returned to Canada short of money, wearing an Afghan wool cap, Indian pajama pants and sandals, and wrapped in a worn-out military blanket. His father urged him to buy some cows, but Anton developed a following among some of his family members, who enjoyed seeing his slides.

Even his father liked his photos, although he said Anton would never make a living taking photographs. Anton says, “I was completely enamored with photography by now. It was my great passion, something I could never give up.” Anton acquired a Nikon F2 with a 105mm lens. He still has that lens, and even bought a new one last year thinking that Nikon might discontinue the classic lens. After a trip to Egypt and Kenya, he soberly decided to return to engineering school. Anton says, “It was a challenge, and my F2 took a back seat to Fourier transforms and second- order differential equations.

I graduated with honors, receiving the ‘Most Promising Graduate Award.’I finally had gotten my life together, and my father was quite proud.”

Within a few months, Anton got a job with a seismic exploration company in Houston, but he soon felt underutilized and bored.His engineering job was simply the means to an end. Anton had a steady income, and his photographic interests began to simmer, then boil. He purchased a good lighting system and a rapid-recy cling Speedotron 2400 watt-second strobe system, which he still uses today. Anton began experimenting with portrait work in his small apartment and moonlighting for studios in Houston. He slowly acquired more experience and equipment.

Anton had traveled in the Southwest and loved the blue skies and fresh air, but he had never visited Santa Fe. He heard Santa Fe was a good place for artists and photographers. “I felt it would be a good milieu to be in and have artist friends.” In 1991 Anton took a giant step: He rented a moving truck and drove to Santa Fe to open up his first studio. Anton says,“In the film Field of Dreams, a voice says, ‘If you build it, [they] will come.’ So I did. I hung up my shingle. They came.”

Anton’s engineering background gave him an analytical approach to problem solving. He took on advertising, accounting and studio management, in spite of not having any experience at running a studio business. His day-to-day rhythms developed easily, and today, 15 years later, he has a thriving photographic business. Unfortunately, his father passed away and never saw any of his son’s photographic success.

Three years ago Anton switched to an all-digital photography format for his portrait and wedding work. He has found it to be a very positive experience and likes the freedom of digital photography’s instant feedback. He uses Nikon D2X digital SLRs and recently sold his Nikon F5 cameras.

His Hasselblads are collecting dust in the closet. For workflow he has a Macintosh computer with a Sony Artisan monitor and Adobe Bridge and Photoshop CS2 software. He prints fine art portraits on Hahnemühle paper with an Epson wide- format printer.

Anton says, “My photography has improved immensely since I can preview my work and make adjustments on the fly. A high-resolution digital SLR camera quickly exposes any weaknesses you may have. Focus must be dead on.

I can capture those fleeting and elusive moments of my subjects with my large buffer camera. I have little free time to tinker with multiple RAW converters. I keep it simple. Technique is very important— light it well, shoot it well, get it right in the camera. When you have captured a great moment with adequate exposure and manageable contrast that is properly focused, the battle is almost over. In the studio these parameters are easily controlled.”

Anton has a long-standing dream of doing a fine art portrait book. He is attracted to the faces of immigrant workers—heroic heads of unsung people that are cropped tightly in simple light. He says, “I want to see passion in their eyes, a passion for life. I want to create a body of work that makes the viewer pause. I am moving slowly but assuredly in that direction.” His mission statement is simple: “Get up every day and work with passion.”

The last time I visited Anton’s studio, I found him taking a break and pushing his delightful four- year-old son, Milan, in a swing suspended from the studio’s high ceiling. Joining him in the fun wash is lovely wife, Lorena, and his assistant, Rafael.

Visit Anton at Pixel Images in the De Vargas Center in Santa Fe or online at www.pixelimagesinc.com.

Paul Slaughter is a world-traveled photographer, writer,and ASMP member who lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Paul specializes in location, stock, and fine art photography and writes articles on travel and photography. A special love of his is jazz. He has an extensive photographic collection of the legends of jazz. See Paul’s profile in the December 2004 issue of Rangefinder,and visit www.slaughterphoto.com.