Beginning his photography career on the East Coast in New York & Boston in the early 1990's, Giovanni Zelko now resides on the West Coast. Having studied film at Boston University and currently working as a lighting technician in Hollywood on motion pictures, he has been able to develop a unique cinematic style in his approach to composition and lighting for his photography.

Giovanni's eye for fashion is extraordinary, illustrating his love for clothing and for story-telling, placing the viewer in a very specific place, time, and mood. He lends us some insight into his view of photographing fashion: "As a photographer, I am always trying to tell a story. It's too easy to just show something. I want to tell . I want a reaction from the viewer, to tell them that there's a lot more going on in the image and have them engage the image and become a part of that story. That's what I love about shooting fashion. I can give an emotion and a character to the garment by evoking feelings from the viewer while pulling them into the world of the person wearing the clothing. My fashion photography is like a scene from a film wrapped up in either a single shot or a series of shots in a layout. The images are alive! They stay with you long after you've put them down." Asked what type of models he prefers to work with, he quickly answers, "dramatic ones! And I don't mean that in a bad way, but in the sense that they can role-play. My models become characters playing a part in some wonderful snippet of life. I feel that beautiful clothing is designed to remove us from the mundane everyday blandness around us and elevate us into an extraordinary world of the good-life. Even if it is only for but a night!"

Giovanni works with three formats: a 35mm SLR Cannon A-1 and a 6x7 Rolleicord for travel, photojournalism, and nudes; for more demanding jobs in fashion, editorial, and live shows, he relies on his Mamiya 645 AFD. His favorite lens? "It really depends on what it's for, but ultimately, I love to shoot with a 50mm in 35 and the medium format equivalent of an 80mm. It's closest to what the human eye sees and I usually strive for creating a very human experience for the viewer. I want to transport every person who looks at one of my photos to that very place and that very moment in time. "Suspension in disbelief," they call it in film theory. The viewer should never notice my work as a photographer. If he or she has, then I feel I've failed." His prolific and eclectic work accomplishes just that feat, especially his travel photography.

Having explored some 29 countries across the globe, Giovanni's photos transport viewers not only to another place, but often to another time, taking great pains to capture images in ancient cities and ruins without giving an indication to what century, or millenium, you are looking at.

Asked how he personally defines the pinnacle of photography, he says, "It's like capturing a fleeting moment of precious beauty and purity and embracing it for eternity, but not selfishly. Rather for all to see. It has the potential to be a global experience, breaking all cultural boundaries across all of time. It is a profound way for man to silently whisper to the future of mankind. I strive for that excellence in every genre I shoot in." New on the horizon for Giovanni Zelko is a soon to be published 11x14 collectors edition book, combining 12 of his love poems with 62 B&W voyeuristic nudes which he has been compiling for over five years. The publication of the book will be accompanied by a traveling gallery exhibit of the nudes blown up onto canvas. Cities and dates are yet to be determined. More info to come.