JODY ROGAC
INTERVIEW BY JUSTIN TYLER CLOSE
Born in England, raised in Canada, currently living in New York City, Jody Rogac has created a name for herself by producing beautiful photographs of human beings in their natural habitat. By shooting in the styles of portraiture, editorial and fashion, she continues to create a timeless feeling of romanticism in each of her photos. Her fascination with faces and keen eye for simple human moments is forever evolving within herself and her work. For such a young photographer she has created a portfolio with an old soul, with work comparable to that of the great Henri Cartier-Bresson or Irving Penn – photographers who didn’t rely on Photoshop to fix their mistakes. All they had were a subject, a camera and a dark room. Today, being able to find your niche in an extremely competitive industry is imperative, and Jody’s found it. Hers is the art of being able to capture moments in between moments when the rest of us are blinking…
JUSTIN TYLER CLOSE—How did you start doing photography? Who or what inspires you? And where are you currently working?
JODY ROGAC—I started photography when I began school at Emily Carr in Vancouver. During my three-year education there I truly fell in love with the medium. Last year I moved to New York and have been working here since and loving it. I’m inspired by everything really – my friends, my environment and especially nature.
JTC—If you could shoot with one person in the entire world, dead or alive, from James Dean to Meryl Streep, who would it be? Why? And what would you do?
JR—Someone I would love to photograph is Jane Goodall. I think she’s absolutely gorgeous and such an inspiration! I would probably hang out with her for a weekend at her home, or in a forest, and photograph our time together – something really casual. And we’d definitely have to get some chimps in there, too!
JTC—You seem to love clean, emotional photos of real people. You don’t do much post-production and your photography is often simple, but very moody. This is a very hard style to be really great at, which you are. How did this style develop? And why is it important to you?
JR—When I began taking photos I only had one piece of equipment and that was my camera – I didn’t have any fancy lights or computers or anything. So I began photographing by making the most out of what I had available to me – my camera and my subject. This really taught me to love how people look when they’re photographed in
the most natural way, and I find it very satisfying to photograph in the most simple way I can.
