Goran Saban (Chabann

WELCOME to my journey in search for beauty. On this journey I have taken many photos of incredible people that I have met and of amazing places that I have visited. It began in country where I was born, for me the most beautiful place on the Earth, Montenegro. It's a country defined by natural and cultural diversity and rich history, as well as proud people that fought for freedom throughout history many times. And we all carry a bit of it within us. Montenegro is the youngest country in the world but also one of the oldest. Montenegro renewed its independence in a referendum held 2006, after parting with Serbia. The two countries were the two last parts of what remained of former Yugoslavia.
At this moment I am involved in many things but still I will always say that I am a photojournalist. Once a photojournalist - always a photojournalist, I would say. Let me take you to the beginning. Being involved in dancing, modeling, parachuting, photography, physics and foreign languages, it was hard to find anything that would put these things together.
One day, when I was helping my father in his restaurant I met someone who changed my life forever. Unfortunately he is no longer with us but he will always be in my heart and my thoughts. I am very often sad as I would want share with him my work, my ideas and news about new equipment, but then I realize that I can’t do that. My dear friend, thank you for everything, without you I wouldn’t be here, I wouldn’t be what I am, I wouldn’t have my first one-man exhibition… Vojo Radonjic, you were the best photographer that Montenegro has ever had and I miss you.
Thanks to Vojo I entered the world of photography and thanks to Dejan Vukovic, a photo editor of Pobjeda Daily, I entered the world of journalism. Even the best photo becomes worthless if it is not published, just like any other kind of art, and photography is art. I hope you agree with me on this one. Well, I was lucky that Pobjeda gave me a chance to show my work on a daily basis as well as to be exposed to the critic, again daily. And that is what made this job fantastic as well as being able to cover all different events that you can find in a daily paper. All this happened owing to Ljubica Bozanovic, the first photojournalist that I worked with and my dear friend. I was infected from the beginning with the idea of taking photos and then putting them together with a text making a complete story, by me. But, it was only when I met Maja Djuric, a photojournalist who inspired me with her work even before I met her, that I considered writing more seriously and now I can’t be more happy than I am, having met all fantastic people that I talked to for different kinds of papers and magazines.
Being involved in different kinds of photography, I have never found any of it to be enough for me to stick to it. So, I am still interested in everything, new places, new people, theater, ice skating, fashion, sports, wild life, nature….. Or, I should say I am interested in beauty, wherever it is. And it is everywhere, if you look hard enough.
But, where can you find more beauty than in the Fashion Industry? So, it’s not a wonder that I am so attracted to that world and once when I got there, thanks to our fashion designer Slobodanka Seka Martinovic, it is in a way a home to me. Not just that Seka got me into the fashion world but thanks to her as the editor of the Family Magazine (a weekly edition of the Pobjeda Daily) I had a chance to express myself in every way that I wanted and I was privileged to have a cover page every week. There are no words to explain how much I am grateful for that.
I owe the Pobjeda Daily a lot, but also to the Reuters Foundation Workshop. However, there is a time for changes… So, I spent some time working for Pro Monte GSM, the first mobile network in Montenegro. At the same time I became a freelance, still working for the Pobjeda (the weekly edition mentioned before), the City Theater of Podgorica, and the magazines Caffe & Bar, Iva, Glass, at weddings… I also started to run a fashion studio (S&G) with Seka and got involved in the Montenegrin-Greek Association of Friendship “Xapa” (read HARA) as its President. I cannot be more thankful to Pro Monte than I am for letting me be “free” the way I was. I also took some photos for them.
And then a wind of change came again. I got an e-mail from Maja Djuric letting me know that the Image, a company from Miami was looking for photographers to work on cruise ships. I think it took me 3 seconds to decide to try. And here I am, since December 2003, I have worked for the Image Group Company from Cayman Island with the office in Miami. So far I’ve been on 8 different ships and 2 cruise lines working as a photographer and videographer. The Holland America Cruise Line and the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. I have visited the following countries: USA (East Cost from New York to Florida), Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala, Bahamas, Cayman Island, Jamaica, Virgin Islands (British and US), Puerto Rico, St. Marten, Aruba, Curacao, Bermuda, Haiti, Antigua, Barbados and St. Lucia. Thanks to traveling around the world I started to contribute to the National Geographic Junior and my work with Lida Vukmanovic Tabas, its editor, is a real pleasure.
On this journey there are my friends that have supported me and guided me through all these changes. Igor Lakic, Milica Kadic-Akovic, Maja Lalic-Kovacevic, Meri Petrov, Dubravka Vukotic, Snezana Popovic, Dusan Bratic, as well as photographers that I have worked with: Dejan Kalezic & Dusko Miljanic from Foto Riva, Mara Babovic…. All the people I was working with and myself were interesting for media, both electronic and print. I wish to thank them for their support and a continuous covering of my carrier. TV CG (Montenegrin National TV – Lela Perovic, Ranka Perovic, Jelena Petrovic, Mirjana Delic), TV IN – Marija Razic, TV Atlas – Andrijana Bozovic, TV Elmag – Vesko Ninkovic.
Thanks to Cat Anderson, my friend from Miami and a colleague, I have met Clyde Butcher, a great photographer from Florida. That is the highlight of me being a ship photographer. Thank you Cat. Every ship has 2, 3, or even up to 20 photographers in the team. Some of them are great photographer and here are some of them…
Please, don`t hesitate to drop me an e-mail with your impressions, comments (good and bad) or if you need a photographer (ME), a graphic designer (ME) or a journalist (ME). Of course, if I am somewhere around you at the needed time.