The Law & Order Writer Who Moonlights as an Artist
Is René Balcer a street photographer, a documentary photographer, or a landscape photographer? All the above and more.
In 2011, René Balcer collaborated on an art project called "Backbone" at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. This project featured a grid of stenciled words from brand slogans used by Virginia enslavers to identify their tobacco products, alongside a blues poem composed by Balcer. The poem honored the enslaved Black women who picked the tobacco plant by hand.
Balcer's passion for photography and writing was evident in his work, as he had a long history of exploring language and visual art. Before his success in television, Balcer studied poetry and photography at Concordia University in Montreal and even took a six-month seminar taught by Jean-Luc Godard. His background in filmmaking, including experience as a cameraman, war reporter, editor, scriptwriter, and documentary filmmaker, combined with his love for literature, made him a unique voice in both the literary and visual arts worlds.
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