Mobile Photography Intimate Interview with Rosalie Heller from Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Our seventy ninth interview in this series of intimate interviews is with talented mobile photographer and artist Rosalie Heller from Baltimore, Maryland, United States. This is an absorbing account of a mobile photographer with great powers of observation and expression, I loved it. Enjoy!
To read the other published interviews in this series including artists, Adria Ellis, Rino Rossi, Mehmet Duyulmus, Alexis Rotella, Lou Ann Sanford Donahue, Irene Oleksiuk, Kerry Mitchell, Filiz Ak, Dale Botha, Lisa Mitchell, M. Cecilia Sao Thiago, Deborah McMillion, Rita Colantonio, Amy Ecenbarger, Jane Schultz, Anca Balaj, Joyce Harkin, Armineh Hovanesian, Kate Zari Roberts, Vicki Cooper, Peter Wilkin, Barbara Braman, Becky Menzies, Sukru Mehmet Omur, Sarah Bichachi, Michel Pretterklieber, Alon Goldsmith, Judy Lurie Whalberg, Andrea Bigiarini, Sean Hayes, Oola Cristina, Kathleen Magner-Rios, Linda Toki, Deb Field, Emilo Nadales, Lydia Cassatt, David Hayes, Jean Hutter, Frederic Deschênes, Mark Schnidman, Fatma Korkut, Fleur Schim, Rob Pearson-Wright, Dieter Gaebel, James Ellis, Marco P Prado, Jeronimo Sanz, Manuela Matos Monteiro, Bleu Chemiko, Manuela Basaldella, Stefania Piccioni, Luis Rodríguez, Marilisa Andriani (@mitrydate) Mayte Balcells (@artofmayte), Nicole Christophe, Jennifer Graham, Cathrine Halsør, Paul Toussaint, Carol Wiebe, Julie Denning, Kim Clayton (@berleyart), Karen Messick, Serap Utaş , MaryJane Rosenfeld, Paul Suciu, Susan Latty (@pause.and.breathe), John Nieto, Phyllis Shenny, Joy Barry, Max Lies Derdonk, Rita Tipunina, Violet Martins, Nizzar Ben Chekroune, Lynette Sheppard, Paul-André Hamel, Rejane Rubino, Susan Detroy and myself, go here.
All images ©Rosalie Heller
What was your childhood or earliest ambition?
I thought I would love to teach young children. I also wished there were a profession for day dreamers and cloud watchers.
First Recognition?
My first recognition was in 4th grade. My 4th grade teacher was the first person ever in my childhood to validate me. She told me I had an innate talent and encouraged me to pursue art. I loved her.
First Job?
My first job was babysitting.
Private or State school?
Public grade school.
University or Work?
I sold antiques, worked in a museum, was a local tour guide, had a massage practice..whatever paid the bills so I could support my children.
I attended Towson State University when my children started school and transferred to the Maryland Institute of Art to study photography under Richard Kirstel. I never graduated for lack of funds.
Who was or is still is your mentor?
I had two mentors. One was a dear friend Bruce Decker, an exceptionally talented and sensitive photographer and printer. My other great influence, and still to this day, Edward Weston. I got lost in his images and learned a great deal about light and shadow.
I also spent a lot of time at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore to cure bouts of depression that followed me around during my teens.
How physically fit are you?
I wish I had more energy. I’m always tired.
Ambition or talent: What matters more to success?
I value talent above all else but I think you also need lots of courage to promote your work. I struggle with the word ambition.
How politically committed are you?
I am intensely interested and vocal about todays’ political environment. I took part in the Womens’ March in Washington DC. It was the most the most exhilarating experience!
What would you like to own that you don’t currently possess?
Plane tickets to revisit India, and an iMac.
What’s your biggest extravagance?
My biggest extravagance was botox ( don’t tell).
In what places are you happiest?
Being among trees in the forest or among the red rock buttes in the American Southwest. India is a close second.
What ambitions do you still have?
I would love to exhibit in a gallery and to publish a soft cover of my work.
What drives you on?
I just can’t stop shooting and editing. It’s my life line.
What is the greatest achievement of your life so far?
My greatest achievement is having raised two remarkably strong and generous daughters.
What do you find most irritating in other people?
I have no patience for people who aren’t curious about the world and other cultures.
If your 20-year-old self could see you now, what would she think?
Look at you kid! You found your passion!
Which object that you’ve lost do you wish you still had?
The items that my mom left to me. They were taken when my house was burglarised.
What is the greatest challenge of our time?
The warming of our planet and learning to live together on this planet.
Do you believe in an afterlife?
I believe that we live many lives.
If you had to rate your satisfaction with your life so far, out of 10, what would you score?
8 working towards 9.
Please help…
TheAppWhisperer has always had a dual mission: to promote the most talented mobile artists of the day and to support ambitious, inquisitive viewers the world over. As the years passTheAppWhisperer has gained readers and viewers and found new venues for that exchange.
All this work thrives with the support of our community.
Please consider making a donation to TheAppWhisperer as this New Year commences because your support helps protect our independence and it means we can keep delivering the promotion of mobile artists that’s open for everyone around the world. Every contribution, however big or small, is so valuable for our future.
Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter is a British photography journalist, editor, curator, and the founder of *TheAppWhisperer.com*, one of the world’s leading platforms dedicated to mobile photography and art. Since its launch in 2009, TheAppWhisperer has become an international hub for artists of all levels to discover, learn, exhibit, and engage with contemporary photographic practice.Built on principles of inclusivity, accessibility, and artistic excellence, Joanne has spent almost two decades championing mobile photography as a serious artistic medium. Through interviews, critical essays, exhibitions, competitions, and education, she has helped shape and document the evolution of mobile art on a global scale.Her work has taken her internationally, lecturing on photography and mobile art at institutions and events including the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea, alongside appearances in the UK and Europe. She has served as a juror for international photography and mobile art awards across Portugal, Canada, the United States, South Korea, Italy, and the UK.Joanne is also the founder of *TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com*, one of the first online galleries dedicated exclusively to collectible mobile art, connecting artists with collectors across Europe, the United States, and Asia.Before founding TheAppWhisperer, Joanne worked extensively in print journalism and photographic publishing, including roles at a paparazzi photo agency and as deputy editor of a leading photography magazine. Her freelance journalism, criticism, and commentary have been published widely in both the UK and the US, with bylines in *The Times*, *The Sunday Times*, *The Guardian*, *Popular Photography*, *NikonPro*, *DPReview*, *Which?*, *Vogue Italia*, *LensCulture*, the *BBC*, and more recently, the *Financial Times*, where her published letters on photography continue to contribute to wider conversations around the medium.Alongside her editorial and curatorial work, Joanne’s own photographic practice has been exhibited internationally across the UK, Europe, South Korea, and the United States. Her work increasingly explores themes of grief, loss, death, memory, and the body.Her current research interests centre on grief, death, and poverty, with forthcoming postgraduate study leading towards doctoral research in these areas.Joanne is currently developing new long-form writing and photographic projects and is available for commissions, editorial projects, speaking engagements, and collaborations.Contact: joannetheappwhisperer@gmail.com)
