Rod Laursen was born in Minnesota in 1949 and holds a BA and  MFA degree from San Francisco State University.  He has taught classes and workshops at San Francisco State University, Middlebury College in Vermont, ASUC Art Studios in Berkeley, and 12 years as an Adjunct Professor of Art at Dominican University in San Rafael, CA. He has also worked as a commercial photographer. Initially  learning photography in Paris during a six year stay in Europe, he  didn't study it seriously until moving to the San Francisco Bay Area where he has lived for 50 years.  He has exhibited nationally and in Germany and his work is in several museum collections including the Oakland Museum, San Jose Museum of Art, Berkeley Art Museum, Cantor Center Stanford University, Crocker Art Museum and the Bibliotèque Nationale in Paris.