Rosalind Solomon’s Fascinating Portraits

Born in 1930, Rosalind Fox Solomon began shooting in the late 1960s focusing most of her work on life at her home in Tennessee. “I had very little knowledge of the history of photography. Early on, I saw articles about Diane Arbus and I knew the work of Henri Cartier Bresson and Ansel Adams, but otherwise I cannot remember knowing about any other photographers. I think if I had lived in New York rather than in Tennessee, I never would have come to where I am today. I am still cowed when I see some other photographers’ exhibitions. I feel that it is best for me to wear blinders and keep drawing from within myself. Painting, film, theater, dance, music and reading inform and nourish my photography.”

In 1991 Jeff Rosenheim from the Met wrote a wonderful review of Solomon’s work, describing the vision behind her alternative photographs. “They tell lyrical, difficult stories each of which teaches us a lessen about life if we are attentive to the artist’s suggestive, magical language. If Rosalind Solomon stares into the face of illness, age, youth, organized religion and suburbia, it is not for its shock value, but just the opposite, for its restorative aspect.”

Solomon lives in NYC and is represented by Bruce Silverstein Gallery.  Her show, “Portraits in the Time of AIDS,” opens June 6, 2013, at the gallery.

Feature Shoot Contributing Editor Carolyn Rauch is a Photo Editor.

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