Photographer and educator Thomas Roma invited us to his Brooklyn home, which also serves as his studio, archive, and darkroom, for a conversation about photography, collaboration and family. Joining us was his son, writer Giancarlo Roma. Thomas Roma has exhibited widely, is Director of the Photography Department at Columbia University, and has published fifteen books of photography. Giancarlo has contributed the writing for three of those books, but their collaboration goes much deeper. As Thomas noted, “we all did everything together,” and from the beginning, Giancarlo has accompanied his father on his many photo excursions, knows his working style, his subject material, his point of view. In a fundamental way, all of Roma’s work is about community, home, and family.
What’s more, Giancarlo is the grandson of photographer Lee Friedlander and, currently, has partnered with him at Haywire Press to sell vintage copies of Friedlander’s books. We talk with Giancarlo about growing up with two influential photographers in his midst and how that may have pushed him toward or away from a career in the arts. Within this pleasant conversation, we discuss artistic process, interaction with subjects, the “language” of photography, baseball, how creativity is passed from father to son, and the beautiful blend of art, family and life. Join us.
Guests: Thomas Roma and Giancarlo Roma
