Donna Rocco
What makes black and white photography so important to you?
I love the drama of black and white images, and how they bring a different feeling to the story. There is an amazing quality of timeless in black and white photography. Shapes and shadows, lines and textures. Black and white focuses your attention on the subject and interaction within the frame. I loved shooting with Polaroid positive/negative film. Making the exposure and waiting for those precious seconds to expire, before you could pull back the positive, and swipe it with the clear coating stick, then turn your attention to preserving the negative. Photography has always been for me a labor of curiosity and passion.
What inspires you to create photographs?
Life inspires me to create photographs. I’ve been passionate about photography since my grandfather gave me my first camera at nine. That camera changed my life, and the way I look and relate to the world. Photos I create are bits of memories and history. Preserving places, events and people with the camera gives me a great sense of joy and connection to what is around me.
Photos provide the viewer an opportunity to trigger a visual moment of time after the moment is gone. Each of us look at a photos and feel and remember. We feel for a longing of a time gone by, or for a memory that will be created again, and so a tradition is born. For better or for worse, not every photo is beautiful, and neither is every memory.
Why is black and white photography so important to our future in the art world?
Black and white images are relevant and important in so many ways. They keeps us connected to history, and to the aesthetic quality of light and shadows. They provide a dreamy memento and remind us all of where the connection of science and art began. The art world is all about history. Finding ways of interpreting the past to allow for new entries into the ever expanding encyclopedia of art.
