Jim Rothenberg
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Jim Rothenberg
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I caught the photography bug at age 10. In the 1970’s I would spend a lot of time with my dad in the makeshift darkroom he had set up in our house. It was in that room I was introduced to the the film negative, an enlarger, dodging and burning and developing black and white photographs. There in that small room, which doubled as a laundry room during the day, I saw an image magically appear in a bath of chemicals under an eerie red light. I was hooked. My dad taught me the importance of exposure, mood, light and developing the printed image. Photography became something Dad and I shared for nearly 30 years.
My first camera in the 1970's was a Polaroid Pronto and from there Dad gave me a point and shoot Konica film camera for Christmas which captured all my college moments. I was the guy always carrying my camera. After college Dad passed down a Minolta SLR and I began learning more about aperture, shutter speed and exposure. From Minolta I moved to Nikon for my film cameras and then for my digital cameras once I moved away from film once and for all. I am primarily self-taught but I have taken some courses over the years: the most memorable being a Black and White course with Neal Parent in Brooklin, Maine during the week of 9-11 in 2001. It was an unforgettable week for the country and for me personally.
I was raised in Northern New Jersey, moved to Massachusetts in 1996 and since 2020 have resided in York, Maine with my wife and daughter. For me, the best part of photography is being fully present and fully in touch with where I am at a particular moment and being vigilant in not allowing that moment to pass. It is as therapeutic and peaceful an exercise as I know. I tend to be drawn to the ordinary as much as the spectacular and I pivot from color to black and white depending on light, shadows, subject matter, tones, textures, mood and highlights. I deeply respect the craft of photography and in all my images I attempt to convey what inspired and caused me to lift my camera to my eye and press the shutter. Photography makes slow down and stay a while and for me is the antidote for the busyness of daily life and its responsibilities.