Frank Van Riper

Frank Van Riper is a nationally acclaimed Washington-based photographer, author, journalist and lecturer. His current book, done in collaboration with Judith Goodman, his wife and professional partner, is 'Serenissima: Venice in Winter.' A collection of atmospheric black and white photographs and essays, it was published in Fall, '08 to rave reviews both in the United States and in Italy.

Frank is a documentary photographer in the tradition of Henri Cartier-Bresson and Gianni Berengo Gardin. He also is an award-winning writer, having served for 20 years in the Washington Bureau of the New York Daily News, as White House correspondent, national political correspondent, and Washington Bureau news editor. For 19 years he was the photography columnist of the Washington Post. His column, Talking Photography, is now available worldwide at www.TalkingPhotography.com

'Serenissima' is Frank's fifth book--others include the biography of Sen. John Glenn and the Pulitzer-nominated 'Down East Maine / A World Apart.' During the course of six years working on location in Venice, Frank (who is half-Italian on his mother's side) finally convinced himself that he had to learn the language of his forebears. He finally did and was conversant enough to speak to audiences in Italian during a ten-day, four-city book tour in Italy in May, 2009.

Frank and Judy currently lead photography workshops in Umbria (www.experienceumbria.com) as well as in Down East Maine (www.summerkeys.com) -- The Lubec Photo Workshops at SummerKeys. They are reachable at GVR@GVRphoto.com