Milan Drozd

I’m Milan J Drozd, a nomadic photographer and writer capturing raw, cinematic stories of food, travel, and culture. My lens isn’t drawn to perfection — it’s drawn to the details that make life feel alive: the crackle of fire in an open kitchen, the quiet resilience in a stranger’s eyes, the fleeting chaos of a city street. Photography, for me, is inseparable from story. Every frame carries more than light and composition — it carries a sense of place, a trace of character, a fragment of a larger journey. My work has grown alongside my writing projects, from The Art of Being Lost — an exploration of travel, uncertainty, and growth — to The Bartender’s Notebook and Of Salt and Ash, where food and fire take center stage. These projects shape the way I shoot: searching for moments that are both honest and cinematic, unpolished yet unforgettable. I specialize in three main areas: Portraits that capture people in their natural state, with intimacy and grit. Food and drink photography that highlights not just what’s on the plate or in the glass, but the culture, craft, and passion behind it. Travel and documentary work that tells the story of a place through atmosphere, detail, and human connection. My background as a bartender taught me to watch closely, to read a room, to notice the in-between gestures — skills that carry directly into my photography. I’m as interested in the fleeting candid as I am in the carefully staged shot, because both can reveal truth in different ways. At its core, my photography is about presence: slowing down enough to notice, framing what others might overlook, and creating images that feel as real and textured as the moments they come from. Whether behind the bar, behind the lens, or on the road, I’ve learned that the best stories aren’t found in the perfect setup — they’re found in the raw, unrepeatable fragments of being alive.