Profile of fellow club member, Greg Zaryk
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| Photo of Greg Zaryk during a wedding. |
Greg was born in Millville, a small town in southern New Jersey. Years later, at a young age, he and his family moved from the Philadelphia area to his grandparents Ohio City home on Franklin Boulevard. It was there that Greg began his life-long passion for photography. In the early years, he was exposed to his family's artistic heritage which included painting, carving and photography that dates back to Ukraine and Germany.
As a young boy, Greg often observed his grandfather using a large 8x10 view camera. This type of camera was synonymous of photographers of that era like Ansel Adams who were often seen behind their cameras draped underneath a black cloth. Greg’s affection for photography intensified as he watched his grandfather develop and print silver gelatin photographs in his grandfather’s darkroom.
Where it all started. After leaving Philadelphia, Greg and his family spent considerable time at his grandparents Ohio City home. It was here where he was introduced to his grandfather's love for photography. Greg would spend much time watching his grandfather develop and print family photos in his darkroom. His grandparents are seen in the photo above.
Creativity and art were no strangers to the Zaryk family as Greg’s father, the late Rt. Rev. Alexis Zaryk (1926-1993), painted religious Icons. Greg's sister Valentina is a sculptor. Greg's brother George was a steel boilermaker/fabricator, Greg’s grandfather also made beautiful wood carvings and three of his uncles drew, painted and photographed with great ability. Greg grew to love this art form through the family association with photography and through the constant support and encouragement from Greg's older brother, George. Greg says his brother George was his biggest influence to pursue both photography and filmmaking.
In 1965, Greg's family settled down in the Old Brooklyn area of Cleveland. As he grew older, his love of photography grew as well. In 1976, Greg became the photographer for his high school’s newspaper, The Rhodes Review of James Ford Rhodes High School. In 1977, Greg photographed his first “official” wedding. In the early eighties, he assisted a Cleveland area Emmy-Award winning cinematographer and learned the art of cinematography and film lighting techniques. Greg also had a stint as a disc-jockey for a Cleveland area FM radio station playing easy rock and disco during the height of the disco era in the early '80's.
One of Greg's creative dreams is to film a documentary using a 35mm motion picture camera that he hopes to acquire. Greg is hoping to document the challenges people with disabilities face when obtaining meaningful employment. The documentary will also capture the triumph that is experienced when a person with disabilities lands their first job.
In 1986, Greg began his formal training as a wedding photographer by serving an apprenticeship with one of Cleveland's most respected wedding photographers, Glenn Kiesel of Rocky River.
In 1993, Greg continued on to perfect his wedding craft for one of the areas oldest and most trusted photography studios, Denison Studios (est. 1937). Under the artistic direction of Denison owners, Greg mastered his skill in studio portraiture and became Denison’s principal wedding photographer for nine consecutive years. He remained with Denison until the owner’s retirement and subsequent closing of the prestigious studio in 2004. Greg photographed many “high-society” weddings including some celebrities. Greg has also shot weddings for; Beran's Studio, Humbert Studio of Creative Photography and Images Studio. He currently shoots for Nelson's Studios in Cleveland.
Greg resides locally with his wife Christine and their two children. Aside from commercial photography assignments and photographing weddings, he is undertaking a bigger challenge of locating and documenting his father’s hand painted Icons. His father painted many of these Icons during the 1970’s through the mid-1980’s. Over the years, he remembers newspaper articles written about his father and the unique two-dimensional style hand painted Icons he created. Many of these Icons are known to be in churches that his father pastored. Greg’s father pastored churches in Michigan, New York and Ohio.
Greg and his son will soon travel to a small church in Dearborn, Michigan, where a large number of his father’s Icons still adorn the churches interior. Greg and his son will begin the registry process to measure, photograph and document eac
h Icon so that a catalog can be created. Greg believes that his father’s work should not go unnoticed and hopes to have a Blog dedicated in displaying his father’s Icons and the many newspaper articles written about him. Greg is very fortunate to have his very own Icon painted by his father. This Icon, the Birth of Jesus in the manger is believed to be one of the last Icons painted by his father in 1986. It measures approximately 5 x 7 feet and is kept safely in Greg’s home. This Icon is carefully brought out and prominently displayed in the their home during the holidays.
Greg's first camera was a Kodak Instamatic given to him by his father. Greg received his first movie camera from his brother George, an 8mm Bell & Howell. Greg's favorite cameras are: Hasselblad 500cm, Rolleiflex 2.8f and the Leica M6. His favorite photographers are: Portraits: Yousuf Karsh; Landscape: Ansel Adams; Street: Henri Cartier-Bresson; Photojournalism: W. Eugene Smith. Greg wishes he could be: a member of the famous Magnum Photo Agency. Greg wants fellow members to know: he has a fully operational B&W darkroom, 35mm to 4x5, which is available to our camera club members!
By Harvey Epstein
October 11, 2008
(Reprinted with permission)
As promised, here is just a sampling of Greg's wedding photography. Many famous people have found their way in front of Greg's camera including (above) baseball legend and Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda during a wedding of a prominent Cleveland-area family at the Cleveland Renaissance Hotel. 
Greg prefers to shoot his brides against the window (most wouldn't dare) to add a more 3-D look. These beautiful brides are only a part of the 300+ weddings Greg has shot during his career. Another famous and funny client! That's comedian Frank Caliendo (above) who has appeared on David Letterman and Late Night with Jay Leno. Frank recently did commercials for Direct-TV impersonating George W. and John Madden. Greg was Frank's official wedding photographer!
Our son (#70) playing for the junior Cardinals during a game against Lakewood.
