RONALD BALZAN

“From a young age I have always been attracted to the arts through my family” My father was an enthusiast of bird sketches and painted murals of bird scenes. My brother is a contemporary painter and sculptor”. Growing up in these surroundings and under their guidance, Ronald came to appreciate all types of art until he found his own means of expression – Photography.

His being a graphic designer for the past 12 years, has no doubt helped him to understand what makes a good photo and the difference between commercial and artistic photography.
Ronald has been practicing photography for five years. During the initial period, he met an old friend who encouraged him to take part in the Malta Tourism Authority’s Heritage Competition which landed him with the first prize in the monochrome category. In the same year, i.e. in 2006, he won the Hasselblad Special Award for the Best Experimental Photo in the Open Annual Exhibition and two Hon. Mentions. He also had two monochrome and two colour prints also accepted. In 2007, he repeated his success this time winning the Pentax Award for the Best Work with a Local Theme besides having three monochrome and three colour prints all accepted in the 42nd Open Annual Exhibition. Later, he won First Prize in the Monochrome prints Category of the Dr Edward Sammut Memorial Competition for Cultural Heritage of the Maltese Islands.

Today Ronald has teamed up with his childhood friend Keith Borg and together they set up their own photographic studio. Ronald believes that the photographic assignments he undertakes, help him push his creativity even further. As to his future ambitions, Recently he obtained his first international qualification, the LBPPA and is actively looking forward to get his “A”.