Lori Vrba

I grew up in a tiny redneck Texas town. I left as soon as I could. I didn’t have an uncle with a darkroom. I didn’t backpack my way through Europe. I didn’t have exposure to art and didn’t own a camera until I was a grown woman. My rugged upbringing and unconventional path into “art as a life form” has shaped who I am as a photographer. I have a heightened sensitivity to the subtleties of my subjects; the unexpected gesture of a child or the inherent grace of mother nature…I see it, and on a good day-capture it.
I now live and work in my beloved Chapel Hill…a small, charming town dead center of North Carolina. I have a traditional wet darkroom in my basement that I affectionately refer to as “the cave.” I enjoy printing and toning as much as I do pressing the shutter. Just outside my darkroom door, is a rowdy game room with my three children, two dogs, eight fish (at last count), nerf gun wars, air hockey…well, you get the idea. Art can happen just about anywhere.