At gallery talk, Roma shares as many stories as pictures

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then it is fitting that Thomas Roma has taken so many pictures.

On Wednesday Feb. 3, Thomas Roma, professor of photography in Columbia’s visual arts department, had a lot to say while leading a discussion about his exhibition at the Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery. The very talkative Roma is the first faculty member of the visual arts department to hold an exhibit at Columbia’s own gallery.

The exhibit, which is currently still running, features 100 of Roma’s photographs from four of his most popular publications. Visitors are also able to view many of his prints and limited edition hand-bound books dating back to the 1970s. After meandering the halls of the gallery on Wednesday, guests were invited to hear a panel discussion with Roma and Museum of Modern Art curator, Susan Kismaric.

Kismaric opened the discussion asking how and why Roma began his career in photography. Roma warned the audience—now too large for the body of chairs to contain—that his story was not the happiest of sorts.

He began his work in photography literally by accident—at age 19, he was sent to the hospital with a severe head injury after losing control of his car and hitting two garbage trucks. Roma began photographing the squirrels wandering outside his hospital room after purchasing a camera from his brother Joel, only to find that the camera was faulty.

Yet despite the adverse circumstances, Roma persevered in his hobby. He was motivated then, and still is today, by what he calls his “survival mechanism”—knowing when he is wrong and when there is something more to be learned.

Roma strives for his photographs to be different. “There is a lot of currency in being different even if it is not good,” Roma said.

Roma’s first book of prints is titled “Found in Brooklyn,” after his hometown of Brooklyn, New York. He later published “Sicilian Passage” while taking time off in Sicily, and has had several other successful publications. When asked about success in publishing, Roma said, “You have to publish a book that people want to buy. ... People want to buy my books because they are about something.”

Roma takes pleasure from photography because he can do it on his own, anywhere, and at any time. “Photography is my putting myself where I want to be, and I bring my camera there. ... There is no assignment, you go where you want to go,” he said.

Unlike most photographers, Roma has never cropped a photograph in his life and does not print in color. He said, “I don’t think having less in a picture makes it look better.” He also believes that a color photograph often fails to depict the hues of the real world.

For the future, Roma plans to continue teaching at Columbia and start his latest project of photographing “men that consider themselves straight, but have sex with other men.” When asked how much longer he will continue pursuing photography, Roma said, “I am going to keep doing it until it’s not fun anymore.”