Mark Zilberman’s photography journey began when he was 6 years old. His first experience with photography happened during a trip with his mother and brother to Washington DC to see the Japanese Cherry Trees in bloom.
As they walked past a drugstore window, he saw a bright yellow box and said he wanted it. It was a Kodak Instamatic 104 with cartridge film and flash cubes. That was the start of his passion for photography, which he pursued continuously until his early thirties. During this period, he made a living as a freelance photographer in New York City, learning mostly on his own but also while studying for a degree at Arizona State University.
Additionally, he spent several years working as a photographer’s assistant in New York City, where he had the opportunity to work with many renowned photographers. As a freelancer, he photographed for magazines such as BusinessWeek, Forbes, and Eastern Airlines, and for graphic designers working on annual reports. Over time, his interest shifted more towards photojournalism. He traveled to places like Gaza, the West Bank (photographing settlements there), Panama during Manuel Noriega’s regime, and Nicaragua during the Sandinista-Contra conflicts.
At that point, Zilberman decided to leave photography and return to college to earn a Master’s degree in Social Work, a field in which he has worked continuously ever since. Although it’s hard to quantify how much, his over 20 years of experience as a social worker undoubtedly informs his photography.
After about a 20-year hiatus from photography, he slowly returned to it, facing a learning curve in becoming proficient with digital photography. He grew to love digital photography, appreciating the immediacy and control it offers. As he revisited his earlier work, he noticed that the images he favored most resembled photojournalism and street photography, the direction he has pursued ever since. He has had success in numerous photography competitions, being a finalist in international contests in Japan, Greece, Hungary, Belgium, Sweden, Italy, the USA, France, and Iran.
Zilberman also shoots weddings, though not in the traditional sense. His approach is more akin to documentary wedding photography, which he enjoys thoroughly, as he treats it as a street photographer would. He is particularly drawn to the abundance of emotion present at weddings, which he seeks to capture, just as he does in street photography—focusing on strong emotion. [Official Website]
