Feb. 13, 2003 – An artist who paints or draws has the option of transporting the viewer to the past or the future, but a photographer must work in real time.
The exhibition opening Friday at Alexander's Café is of black and white images captured on camera by St. Thomas photographer Jessica K Rosenberg. It comprises a contemporary urban landscape that stands as a historical record in its own right of current events in segments of the Virgin Islands community.
Rosenberg has titled her show "b/w photographs-New Work," and she'll be on hand to discuss the pieces on display at the opening reception from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Friday. (Note the earlier-than-usual times.) The public is invited to stop by and view the works, enjoy champagne and appetizers, and perhaps win the raffle prize of a gift from the artist.
"I love black and white photography," Rosenberg says. "It simplifies the image and makes us look at the content, without the distraction of color."
Her photographs combine an appreciation of that simplified image with the chronicling of everyday life through people. And while her pictures do freeze the moment in time, she notes, they also allow viewers to "revisit that moment whenever we wish … seeing different things in the same photograph over time as we change, as our collective vision changes, as times change." And, among a variety of viewers, they offer the opportunity for dialogue.
Rosenberg's passion for photography began when she got her first camera at the age of 8. It was indelibly influenced by her familiarity from childhood with the book "The Family of Man," a collection of more than 500 photographs by Edward Steichen, taken all over the world, that document everyday life from birth to death.
She received her bachelor's degree in art, specializing in lithography and offhand glassblowing. After graduation, she built and operated two glass laboratories in Grenoble, France, before moving into design and illustration. She was a freelance art director in New York City for many years before moving to St. Thomas in 1985.
Her photographic influences include Dorothea Lange, who documented American farm and migrant worker families during the Depression; and Robert Frank and Garry Winogrand, both known for their urban landscapes chronicling everyday life. More recently she has studied with contemporary U.S. photographer George Tice and master printer Jim Megargee.
Rosenberg's artistic endeavors include painting with pastels as well as shooting and printing black and white photographs in a darkroom she built at home.
The exhibit will hang through March 13. All works are available for purchase. As it is Valentine's Day, anyone wishing to stay for dinner at Alexander's Café following Friday's reception is asked to make reservations, by calling 774-4349.
Alexander's features a new artist or group or artists every month with an opening reception. Images of the current show and previous ones may be seen on the St. John Gallery Web site.
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