Croatian music photographer Zoran Orlić returns home after 50 years to launch Croatia’s first heritage photo-video documentation service

by croatiaweek
January 9, 2026
in Business

(Photo: Zoran Orlić)

TROGIR, Croatia – January 9, 2026 – Renowned Croatian-born rock photographer Zoran Orlić, celebrated for his intimate captures of music icons including Wilco, The Frames, and a Rolling Stone cover, has repatriated to his hometown of Trogir after five decades in Chicago.

There, he unveils Heritage Documented the nation’s inaugural heritage visual documentation service, a comprehensive photo, video, and photo album package documenting clients’ ancestral towns, cities, villages, family homes, via 3-5 days of immersive shooting with drone and handheld video footage in addition to photography.

What sets this apart as a Croatian first: Multi-generational storytelling in a custom documentary film paired with a fine art photo album, transforming abstract roots into tangible heirlooms for diaspora families worldwide.

Clients receive soaring aerial views of their homeland, emotional walk-throughs of ancestral homes, and professionally edited narratives evoking nostalgia and future legacy, as praised by early users like Mary, who called it “a wonderful keepsake… to honor and remember them by.”

Orlić’s journey fuels the innovation: Leaving Trogir at age 6 imprinted memories of his grandmother’s songs on village donkey rides, sparking a lifelong ache to replant roots amid Croatia’s photogenic culture.

His Chicago-honed lens, which produced a music photography book and collaborations with Wilco and Mavis Staples, now reframes families, cities, towns and villages as “rockstars.”

My “Heritage” Passion Statement

Leaving my birthplace of Trogir and moving to Chicago at the age of 6 left my soul on a constant journey back to my homeland.

Those early years left a big imprint in my mind and memories of my grandmother singing alongside me as I rode on her donkey in the village tugged at my heart.

Trogir

My family would go visit Croatia as often as possible, but it wasn’t enough to fulfill the yearning for my culture and heritage. I ached to return, replant my roots back “home” and raise my family among the land of my ancestors.

During the years spent in Chicago, my love for photography was born. Combining it with my passion for music was instinctual and became the perfect creative marriage and outlet for me. I’ve been fortunate to capture many admired bands and am grateful for my relationship with The Frames, which resulted in a photography book and for my longtime collaboration with Wilco, one of my many Chicago music families.

My time behind the lens was also spent endlessly photographing the many beautiful parts of Croatia on my visits. Over the years, I became increasingly fascinated with the deep-rooted culture of all of the neighboring villages and towns in this photogenic country.

What a privilege it would be to combine my love of photography, music and exploring Croatia to capture peoples’ stories, personal families’ histories, ancestral heritage… and thus the idea for Heritage Documented was born 20 years ago. It’s been tucked away in the back of my mind and since I’ve returned to my birthplace, I am eager to share my passion for visual storytelling.

The thrill of discovering new towns and villages, seeing it from a personal family’s perspective and adding my touch to document a family’s heritage is deeply gratifying. I’m always inspired by what I learn and the ability to share it with families visually, and perhaps through stories from locals, deepens my relationship to my homeland and allows me to strengthen others’ connection to it.

Now families and their villages, towns, and cities are also the rockstars in front of my lens.