We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Coleman Rogers. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Coleman below.

Coleman, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

About halfway through 2023, I realized that I had been feeling creatively stuck for a long time. We returned from a five week driving trip through Spain and France; during that time, I generated many, many digital images and exposed more than 30 rolls of 120 format film. I developed and scanned the film and went through all of the analog and digital images, but I could only see ‘mistakes’ and bad exposures. I began to work with a creative coach, who redirected my focus and helped me to break free. I had two or three months that blew open my feelings about creation. For one of the first projects, I went through the film rolls that I captured with a Holga 120N plastic camera and selected all of the frames with light leaks. I printed those frames and created a collage connecting the light leaks as a primary focus, and finding and connecting shapes and lines in the image as a secondary focus. The result was very satisfying. A following series in this project was intended to promote the release of intention of the finished ‘product.’ I printed groups of unrelated images onto a single sheet, and then turned the page face down and cut the pages into pieces. My favorite of these was a triptych, where I cut the three images into strips and punched circular pieces out of the strips. I mixed up all these pieces face down and reassembled the holes and strips blind, resulting in three square images as one piece. I have moved on from this type of work, but it definitely informs my current work.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

As a teenager in the 1970s, I visited cousins who were into photography. They shot rolls of film, developed them, and made prints in their home darkroom. This process resonated with me, so much that I made my own darkroom and created images for the school newspaper and took photos for the yearbook. My father gave me his 1950 Zeiss Ikoflex 120 format camera that I still use and I also had a Minolta 35mm with a few lenses. I did some photography at university, but really did very little with a camera until my daughter was born in 1993. I spent the 90s and early 2000’s shooting photos of my daughter on film; the digital cameras that were available did not generate satisfying images. In 2006, I had an epiphany that I was creating artwork, not just taking photographs. I started to print images and enter work in gallery shows and I took part in open studios around Boston. Working exclusively on film, I was showing work in many exhibitions, winning awards and earning the status of Copley Artist at the Copley Society of Art. After my career as a recording engineer and studio tech, I started photographing music events with a klunky but gorgeous Mamiya medium format camera. The images were beautiful, but it quickly became impossible to shoot enough film, with only 10 shots on a roll. Digital cameras came a long way, and I started shooting shows on a full-frame sony alpha series.

I create work, whether conceptual artwork or music event photos, for myself. I don’t generally book a show with a band, because my physical limitations from an old accident can sometimes interfere with my ability to shoot.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Ten years ago, I was run over by a school bus, while I was cycling to work. I was on crutches for three months, unable to walk, but shooting music photos at a nearby club was instrumental in getting me out of the house and giving me purpose while I recovered. Every aspect of my life has been impacted by getting run over, but I try to do what I can to be creative. I qualified for disability, because my ability to work a normal job has been severely impacted, and I deal with a significant amount of chronic pain.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

My relationships with other artists and the appreciation of my work by people who have purchased my pieces and used my music photos for their self-promotion and release artwork. I do not do this for the money; generating income as an artist is secondary to the creation of satisfying work. Would I like to sell more work? Of course, but the awakening project that I spoke about earlier during the end of 2023 helped me to disconnect my creative process from any expectation of sales. And this attitude has spilled over into my music photography.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://colemanrogersphotography.com
• Instagram: @colemanrphotos
• Facebook: @colemanrphotos
• Other: Facebook also: @colemanrogersphotography

Image Credits

All of the attached were created by me, Coleman Rogers.