Maja Strgar Kurecic Headshot

Maja Strgar Kurecic

Instructor

RIT Croatia

Maja Strgar Kurecic

Instructor

RIT Croatia

Bio

Maja Strgar Kure?i? (born 1972) is a Croatian fine art photographer born, raised, and based in Zagreb. Since the middle of the 1990s, she has been a professional photographer and educator. She works as an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Graphic Arts, University of Zagreb where she gives lectures from the courses in the field of photography and graphic prepress. In addition to teaching and scientific work, she has been involved in photography for more than twenty-five years as a lens-based artist with a strong background and experience in commercial, advertising and photojournalism. Within a deep personal devotion to a scientific but delicate approach, she overcame documentary and narrative and found herself in deep analytical and philosophical fields of experimental and abstract photography.

Maja uses a camera as a tool that captures inner voices, emotions, and moods without the need to interpret reality. Most of the time, the process is spontaneous, intuitive, and unconscious. Her Abstract Art is a form of escapism that highlights the most difficult emotions in our everyday lives. Her abstract images talk about disconnections from the experience and balance in contemporary society. Those are layers of wonder in its most idealistic and pure form of art. Her work Floating Garden has been featured widely with international recognition of her experimental photographic projects. The most recognized works are abstract images from series Other Worlds, 2017 – 2018; Escape Landscapes, 2017– 2019; Floating Garden, 2019 – 2021; and Lunaria Rediviva, 2020.

Education

2008. PhD in Engineering Sciences, field of Graphic Technology, Digital photography, Faculty of Graphic Arts University of Zagreb

2001. MSc in Information Science, Multimedia Systems, Web design, Faculty of Organization and Information Technology University of Zagreb

1996. BcA in Graphic Technology, Faculty of Graphic Arts University of Zagreb

Currently Teaching

PHAR-160
3 Credits
An introduction to digital photography – technical, aesthetic, conceptual – for non-photography majors. Through weekly assignments, students will become familiar with the operation of a DSLR camera body/lens, while exploring the basic principles of lighting, depth of field, design, blur/stop motion, accurate exposure, and image manipulation. Lectures will address photographic aesthetics, contemporary and historical practices, and professional applications. Students will learn to critique work through participation in discussions of photographic assignments. Students are required to have their own DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) camera. Non-photo majors only. **A materials fee is required for this course and an additional facilities fee for non-SPAS students**