Lori Vrba
About
Lori Vrba (http://www.lorivrba.com/) is a self-taught artist based in Hillsborough, North Carolina. With a southern sensibility for storytelling, her imagery and assemblage is rooted in themes of memory, illusion, loss, and revival. Vrba’s work is held in private and permanent collections throughout the world including the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and the Fox Talbot Museum at Lacock Abbey. Vrba has curated numerous exhibitions including Tribe for the Fox Talbot Museum in 2018 which then traveled to The Center for Photographic Art -Carmel, CA. Her first monograph The Moth Wing Diaries was published in 2015 by Daylight Books. She currently lives on a small farm with her retired husband and a lot of animals.
Gallery
LACP Interviews Lori Vrba
LACP asks Lori Vrba ten questions about her background, career in and beliefs about photography.
Los Angeles Center of Photography: What kind of photographer are you?
Lori Vrba: I am a photo-based story-teller.
LACP: How long have you been shooting?
LV: I became focused as an artist twelve years ago when I moved to North Carolina. I had been making photographs for all of my adult life but everything changed after the move.
LACP: Where did you get your training?
LV: I am self-taught and I have wildly creative friends so I am always inspired and learning.
LACP: When did you know you wanted to devote your life to photography?
LV: I suppose I knew it twelve years ago when I got serious but I re-examine that decision and recommit myself regularly.
LACP: Did you ever come close to giving up?
LV: More times than I could count. Tenacity is everything.
LACP: Have you sacrificed anything by being a photographer?
LV: Gosh I guess one could say I’ve sacrificed a massive amount of time I could have spent doing anything else.
LACP: What have you gained by being a photographer?
LV: A heightened sense of wonder for the world and rich relationships with fellow creatives who have shaped me as a human being.
LACP: What classes do you teach at LACP?
LV : “s c e n e + h e r d” Finding your place and tribe in the new landscape of a sustainable creative life.
LACP: What do you love most about teaching?
LV: It forces me to organize my thoughts about the ideas I most care about so that I can hopefully do something significant for the greater good.
LACP: What advice would you give someone who is thinking about making a career in photography?
LV: Don’t wait for someone to save you or make you. Be an art warrior. Protect your integrity and your work like a mama bear. Lift others.