BIO
Catalin Anastase was born in a family of artists coming from medieval Transylvania since 1660 and the historic Dobruja located in Romania .
Growing up with great adventure books by authors like Jules Verne, Mark Twain or Rudyard Kipling, Catalin have an adventure travel spirit and an insatiable curiosity to visit places and to discover people and a taste for mystery. Funny enough, in the childhood his grandparents called him a kangaroo, because of his ability to jump higher than the other kids and to run faster, so looks like coming to Australia was a legit choice.
The dream of father artist wanting to escape in 1953 from the Romanian communist regime, was continued by Catalin here in the Southern Hemisphere, where he brought this legacy and his art in various exhibitions. He started photography in November 1987 with black and white portraiture and light painting photography, adapting it in a romantic way to portraiture.
Attracted by allegory and metaphors, his portraits are illuminated in a romantic way following the well known painting technique chiaroscuro.
Always with the intention to create a story with the person in front of the camera, Catalin started this idea with one question in mind - What’s the story?
He discovered with this illuminating technique, he can tell a story from a total different angle, by scratching the dark with a torch to create a photographic image.
Catalin's dramatic interpretation in this image style, was influenced by his education in performing arts, as an actor, puppeteer and director.
Discovered in 1992 by British Journal Of Photography and headhunted to be featured in the prestigious magazine, he was invited in 1995 at the International Festival for Photography in Burghausen in Germany, to experiment and to exhibit portraits studies and body light painted images in a forum of professional photographers, enthusiasts and prestigious camera brands representatives, such as Canon, Nikon, Fuji, Minolta.
This experience was the start of a long journey in his photography career and the style helped him to obtain more confidence from people he photographed.
"I see the photographer and the subject instantly connected through a light beam revealing only the essential of the face or body, highlighting only the story” he said.
It is true that people are so busy these days(homo faber), but they are feeling happy and fulfilled when they find time for art (homo ludens).
We all need art, we all need to find ourselves and see ourselves in a creative way, this being important for ones self esteem and the meaning of life.
The big advantage of this style, is that an extraordinary story can be created with ordinary things.
Catalin arrived in Australia, almost two decades ago after traveling extensively and exhibiting around the world, helping people to discover themselves and share their beauty.
MAIN EXHIBITIONS
Sydney, Australia - Laser Moments - Exhibition at Art Moment Gallery - 2007
Sydney , Australia - Projection Exhibition at TAP Gallery for the book launch OPEN 24 HOURS - 2005
New Zealand, 2002-2004 - The Edge Gallery
New Zealand, 2001 - Newtown Gallery
New Zealand, 2001 People, Traditions and Events - Cameleon Gallery
The Art Museum of Constanta, 1997
The Festival for Avant-Garde Photography - Burghausen, Germany, 1995
The French Institute, Bucharest, 1995
BJP - British Journal Of Photography - 1992
Association of Fine Art Photographers, AAF Bucharest, 1991 - 1994 photojournalism, portraits exhibitions
PUBLICATIONS & EXHIBITIONS - selections
BEST EXPERIMENTAL PHOTO featured in BJP/ 1992
British Journal of Photography
FRENCH INSTITUTE / 1993
BURGHAUSEN PHOTOGRAPHY FESTIVAL / 1995
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND/ 2001
THE EDGE AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND / 2002
ART MOMENT GALLERY SYDNEY / 2007
“I have hired Catalin twice, for good reason too. He has done all my professional photography, and he comes highly recommended by me. Professional portraits that have to strike delicate balances, say for example, trustworthy, serious warm, but not too intense etc, are not easy to get. But in a relatively short shoot, with a focused, collaborative selection process, he was able to narrow down to a highly appealing professional portfolio. Great work at competitive prices”
Lunar Portraits Studio is a fine art photography studio, where we help people to create their stories and discover their beauty.
We create stories in an allegorical way, using digital techniques to build your story.