Momentum Gallery presents Close to Home, a collection of recent abstract photographs by Sandy Rothberg. The word photography is derived from the Greek word “photos,” meaning light, and “graphos,” meaning drawing. Sandy Rothberg is a seasoned and educated photographer whose recent work explores using the camera as a tool to capture impressionistic imagery, in other words painting with a camera. Rothberg writes, “These pictures explore light and its interactions with my surroundings. They also are the result of my feelings at the time the shutter was open. I am by nature a rule breaker. If I’m told that one should not point a lens at the sun, my reaction is to do exactly that. If I hear that landscape photography means a tripod, a big camera, and long walks in the woods, I go out my back door when the light gets good.”
The unique images that result – blurred, streaked, and otherwise distorted – are full frame, they contain no post-production altering, editing, or even cropping; all effects were done with the camera directly by the artist’s hand. Their aesthetic is loose and painterly, with light sources leaving trails and elements in the work dragging and skipping like a scratched record. Despite these vague details, common elements of trees, water, and sky are prevalent, providing a universality and enough reference for the images to remain accessible to everyone.
Close to Home opens at Momentum Gallery on March 3rd, with an artist reception scheduled for Thursday, March 9th from 5-8 pm. This event is free and open to the public.
