Ron Zak is a Sonoma-based photographer, teacher and traveler who works to reveal moments of irony and interconnectedness in his images of diverse cultures and environments. After serving in Vietnam 1965-67, Zak moved to San Francisco and earned a Masters in Art from San Francisco State University.  He presented his first solo exhibition titled “The Human Condition” at San Francisco Art Institute’s Walter and McBean Gallery.

In 1979, Zak moved to Sonoma and worked as a photographer for newspapers and magazines. He went on to start Zak Photographics, which specialized in advertising, book illustration, fashion and portraiture work. Zak is well known for his photo ad campaign used for decades by Sonoma Valley Harvest Wine Auction.

Zak’s teaching career also began in 1979 at Napa Valley College where he mentored many students who went on to become professional and established photographers. From 2005-2017, he lead the photography department at Solano Community College and for the past 30 years, Zak has coordinated travel courses for photographers to such locations as China, India, Cuba, Indonesia, Burma, Argentina, Paris, New York, and Vietnam.

The travel study program was inspired by Zak’s own experience as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Belgrade in the former Yugoslavia (1989). He has exhibited frequently throughout Northern California and Pittsburgh (his hometown) and has work in many private collections, at di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, Napa Valley Museum and the Skopje Museum of Contemporary Art in Macedonia.

PhotoEye@NVC is a quarterly photo lecture series organized by the Napa Valley College Photography Department featuring in-person presentations by noted photographers and other contemporary image makers in which they are invited to share their ideas and artistic practices with students and the general public. The lecture series is produced with support from the Janice E. & Bernard Charlup Photography Endowment of the Napa Valley College Foundation.