Member In Focus: Susan Rosenberg Jones

Today we highlight the work of Susan Rosenberg Jones, a portrait and documentary photographer based in New York City. Her work explores themes of home, family, community, identity, aging, love, and relationships.

Susan’s website: www.susanrosenbergjones.com
Susan’s Instagram: @susanrosenbergjones

Widowed

There is nothing like the grief one experiences after a life partner passes away. When Susan Rosenberg Jones lost her first husband in 2008, she searched for books and articles addressing this loss. She was looking for suggestions on coping techniques from others who’d been widowed. There wasn’t much.

She remarried in 2012. After focusing on her loving relationship with her second husband, Joel in her body of work Second Time Around, she realized that her feelings about her first husband’s passing were still evolving, bubbling up occasionally at random times.

Since March of 2018, she meets with widows and widowers of all ages, gay and straight, having been in legal marriages or in committed partnerships. They have a conversation, recorded for accuracy, and she makes the portrait. A printed statement from the subject accompanies each photograph. This process is emotionally satisfying as she and her sitters examine together how a marriage can shape a person moving through life. Rosenberg Jones hopes that by sharing their stories, those suffering this profound loss – whether recently or not – will take comfort in recognition and shared experience.

What inspired your journey into photography?

I started very young. As a child, I would peruse my parents’ books and magazines that were on low shelves I could reach. There were several Coronet magazines that had photography features: Steichen, Stieglitz, Edward Weston, etc. I would stare at those photographs for hours.

Then a local mom noted my interest in photography – I had been wandering about the neighborhood, using my Brownie camera – and gifted me with a “how to” book of photography. 

I loved that book and used its guidance to set up my first portrait shoot – my little brother and a neighborhood girl. My brother still hates this picture – sorry, Bill! 

Later, when I was a young teen, I was exploring an old graveyard in Boston with a friend, and a kid with a camera around his neck approached us and took us to a place called the Boston Film Center, where a wonderful man taught kids for free to use cameras, and develop, and print. That was it for me! 

What prompted the creation of your project Widowed?

I lost my husband of 32 years in 2008, and after he passed, I tried to find books that would help me process the mix of feelings I was experiencing. I was only 57 and none of my friends were losing their partners at that stage. I felt alone and there was nothing I could find that could speak to me. I wanted to hear what others in my situation would have to say.

Then after I remarried, I began photographing my husband Joel, culminating in Second Time Around. I still felt there was a story I needed to tell, so I started work on Widowed – which was then titled Widow/er.

My objective from the very beginning was to create a book like what I wished I’d had when my husband died. There is no book, but the body of work as it was presented at the Griffin and as appears on my website is in the form that suits my intention.

Tell us more about one of your selected photographs.

This image of Darrell was my first in the Widowed series. It was in March of 2018. We arranged for me to visit Darrell at home. His partner of 25 years, Roger had died a year and a half before our meeting. Darrell set his coffee table with champagne flutes, cheese, and fruit exactly as he and Roger would have it on their Saturday nights before going out for the evening. The lighting that day was difficult as the weather outside was grey and rainy and there was little light inside. Looking at it now, I see the environment’s rich colors and muted tones reflecting Darrell’s mood.

How has your project Widowed evolved since your exhibition at the Griffin?

Since my exhibition at the Griffin, my project has grown to feature 51 participants. A couple of years ago I organized the project on my website and now the statement of the participant appears under each portrait. I also added in a “recommended reading” page, a page of poetry, a “helpful links” page, and a “participate” page inviting potential sitters. 

I also started an Instagram page for Widowed that links from my Instagram page. I’m still interested in making a book, but the right opportunity has not yet come along.

 I haven’t been actively seeking participants at this stage but will gladly welcome anyone interested to contact me. I take pleasure in the process of making these portraits and talking with my sitters.

One gratifying aspect is that several of my widows have contacted me since their portrait sessions, telling me they started to date, met someone, still looking, etc. I love keeping in touch.

What have been the biggest challenges for you as a photographer and how did you overcome them?

I’ve had all sorts of challenges as a photographer:

Being short and looking upward at my subjects – I would love to be taller than them but even eye level would be great. A stepstool or looking at someone sitting down – there’s always a solution.

With certain of my projects, I contact people to sit for me. Many times, they say “no”, and that can be a challenge. I try and stay flexible, as the nature of a series can be shaped by its participants. So, I need to let it flow as it comes with respect for the process, and for the people who do participate.

Keeping things fresh and getting out of my comfort zone is an ongoing challenge. To get out of a real or perceived rut, I either take a break and immerse myself in reading fiction, or take my camera to Coney Island and photograph the people, the colors, the excitement – and that revives my spirit.

What drives your continued passion for creating?

I get a visceral thrill when photographing, editing, and sequencing. People sometimes remark that I’m smiling when taking their picture. And it’s that being “in the zone” that drives me to do it again and again.

At this stage in my life (I’m 72), I’m not climbing a ladder or trying to prove myself out there. Margaret Mead said, “There is no greater power in the world than the zest of a postmenopausal woman.”  She was right! I have the energy for creative activities now just like when I was a teenager.

I love all the arts and find viewing art, reading fiction, seeing plays and films, and dance stimulating. I also love being with friends and in my various community circles. I derive ideas and inspiration from all of it.