John Ranard
| John Ranard (photographer) | |
|---|---|
| Born |
John Kent Ranard February 7, 1952 Washington, D.C. |
| Died | May 14, 2008 (aged 56) New York City |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Center for Photographic Studies, Louisville, Kentucky; Hunter College, New York City |
| Known for | Social documentary photography |
| Awards | 55th Annual Pictures of the Year Competition, First Place for Issue Reporting Picture Story, held by National Press Assoc. and Missouri School of Journalism, 1998. |
John Ranard (February 7, 1952 – May 14, 2008) was a social documentary photographer who won critical acclaim for his gritty, multi-layered photographs of Louisville, Kentucky's social classes, the world of boxing, Russia during the period of perestroika, AIDS in Russia and Russian prison life.
Ranard was the son of a foreign service diplomat, Donald L. Ranard, who, during and after government service, became active in human rights. John Ranard spent much of his childhood in Asian countries, among them Japan, Malaya, Korea, and Burma, and also Australia. After returning to the United States following these sojourns, Ranard attended the University of New Mexico, but his college life was interrupted when it was discovered he had Hodgkin's disease. Ranard overcame this, but it was during his treatment with blood transfusions that his doctors later believed he had contracted Hepatitis C, which dogged him for the rest of his life and finally killed him.
While recovering from Hodgkin's, Ranard returned to his family home in Vienna, Virginia, and there, in the mid-1970s, he suffered a broken neck in a car accident and used the insurance settlement money to study at Louisville's Center for Photographic Studies. In the late 1970s, he was able to publish his work in two alternative Louisville news magazines, City Paper and Louisville Today, experimenting freely. He achieved a reputation during this time "as one of Louisville's most active and original photographers", publishing his work journalistically but also exhibiting in art venues such as Louisville's Portland Museum.
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