For our tenth aamora interview New York city photographer, Ronnie Ginnever has agreed to answer our questions.

time travellers

Whyphotography?

I was involved in other arts but I was always fascinated by photography, more so than painting. To me, photography is so real. More immediate. In photography you can really capture the moment. It made me feel like I was able to see through people’s eyes, what was going on in people’s lives, their worlds, their dreams.

 

Cellphones?

I love my iphone. I love it because I can talk on it and take pictures, and it weighs nothing. I was always carrying around heavy-duty equipment, cameras and lenses. I feel like I’m two inches shorter than I ought to be because of all the heavy equipment I’ve carried over time.

 

Digital v. Film – still a topic?

For me, I will never stop loving film. My love affair with film will probably last forever. Printing an image for me was magical. I could be in the dark room for 17 hours and not know it. It was only due to lung disease that I could no longer work with chemicals and had to leave the darkroom. It was then that I started to work with digital cameras.

 

Is the equipment important?

Equipment, to me, is not as important as I once believed it to be. It’s really what one sees that is the equipment. That is my vision. Today, almost anyone has access to relatively good and inexpensive equipment including smart phones.

 

How did you learn to photograph?

First watching; then doing. My father was an amateur photographer and film-maker until he became ill. I still have his 8mm camera, some 8mm films and his screen.

 

Are photographs “taken” or “made”?

Both. Sometimes you find exactly what you want looking through the lens. And if you’re lucky, you get exactly what you think you’re going to get. Other times, you might have to manipulate a bit. I usually don’t like to have to crop images.

 

Is photography art?

Anything can be art. Photography is as much an art as anything else. Living is an art. It took me a while to find my niche in the digital world and I’m so grateful that I did. My work has my signature, its recognizable.

 

Where do you go to look at photographs?

I go to galleries, artists’ studios, museums, magazines, books and online.

 

Who is it for – you or them?

I take pictures for me. I hope to be able to share them, of course. But I take them for me.

viewing art

 

I AM A WITNESS.

Photography is my passion.  Fortunately I was born and live in the City that I love — New York City.  On a good day I move with the rhythms of the City and feel connected to its soul, spirit and people. The camera is the tool that allows me to capture moments before they transform.

Film and photographs have always fascinated me.  My father was an amateur photographer and filmmaker.  I took my first pictures with his Kodak Brownie.  I created art all of my life and considered myself a painter.  As fate dictated, in 1967 I was introduced to Harold Feinstein (photographer/teacher 1931-2015), that is when I rediscovered my love of photography.  Harold became a great inspiration, friend and mentor.  I also had the good fortune to study with many other inspiring photography teachers including Philippe Halsman and Lisette Model.

I have experimented with a variety of cameras, lenses, and formats, spending countless hours in the darkroom.  Developing an image felt like magic. Today I look for that magic in new ways as I work with digital cameras.

My work has been shown in galleries and museums in the United States and has been published both here and abroad.

Ronnie’s work can be seen on her website , and some of her work can be seen at present at the Green Light Gallery, 240 Hudson Street, Cornwall on Hudson.NY