Celebrated author and artist William Stanek takes his art to a new level in The Black & White Collection #1, the first volume in an inspiring, comprehensive photographic collection of the very best of his fine art photography from his 30+-year career.
William R. Stanek and his wife have been called "living legends" and "national treasures" for their decades of creative works in the arts and publishing. In the arts, he is celebrated for his unique perspectives, natural colors and stunning use of natural light. In the literary world, he is renowned for his body of work which includes nearly 100 children's picture books painted with stunningly beautiful watercolors.
It's been a long road to celebrated author and artist for William. At an early age, he lost a step-father to a gas water heater explosion, his sister Bridget to the same some months later. Thereafter, raised by a single mother, he and his siblings lived very much in poverty and often went hungry. From the age of 10, he worked odd jobs to help keep the family fed.
At 17, in his senior year of high school, his mother re-married and moved away. William found himself homeless and living in his car, but still managed to finish high school. After graduation, he joined the US Air Force. Military service brought William to fields of combat and special operations duties in foreign lands around the world. His distinguished military service earned him many medals, including the Distinguished Flying Cross. But William says he would give all the medals away to be able to close his eyes and not see any of it.
William's work has always been an outlet, if not for his own healing, but to help heal others. Through his stories. Through his paintings. Through his photography. For the past thirty years, his wife has been there with him, assisting, which is why William says this is as much her book as it is his.
Stanek, Hc: - Erstwhile Photographer and Long-time Publisher HC Stanek has always been the woman behind the scenes. She has managed the day-to-day operations of Stanek Media for the past three decades. Her work has been featured in a number of gallery shows and recently in a career retrospective with her husband. She prefers candid street photography and photography of people (though not traditional portrait work).
Stanek, William R.: - Seattle-based Photographer and Artist, William R. Stanek, a combat veteran who supports other veterans, is also a vocal champion of books and libraries. Not only an artist, he wrote nonfiction for over three decades as William Stanek and fiction as Robert Stanek. Connecting to his French/Scandinavian roots in his work is important to William. His grandfather on his mother's side was a Beauchamp (Bo-shom) from Montreal Quebec in a long line of Beauchamps from Quebec who immigrated to Canada from Basse-Normandie France in the early 1600s. In France, he has traced his family line back to the Beauchamps and Deschamps of the early 1400s and to the Normans who conquered Britain in the mid 1000s, who in turn were descended from the Vikings of Scandinavia. His grandmother on his mother's side was a Trolle (trahl-eh) in a long line of Trolles who immigrated to the United States in the late 1700s and early 1800s from Scandinavia. In Denmark, Norway and Sweden, William has traced the Trolle line back to the 1300s and to the founding fathers of Denmark in the 1400s and 1500s. Trolleholm Castle is Scania Sweden is named for his ancestors and has been owned by a Trolle since the 1700s.
