Bio

Stuart Rome received his B.F.A. from R.I.T. in 1977. His first solo exhibition, Modern Mythologies opened at the International Museum of Photography at the George Eastman House, in 1978. In the late 1970s Mr. Rome was represented by Sonnabend Gallery in New York City. In 1979 Mr. Rome attended the University of Arizona on a full scholarship and received his M.F.A. in 1981. During his years in Arizona, Mr. Rome was influenced by Native American cultures and began working with archaeologists and anthropologists, notably on the book/exhibition, Maya Treasures of an Ancient Civilization. In 1985 Mr. Rome was hired at Drexel University to launch the photo program. In 1987 Mr. Rome traveled to Haiti to photograph Voodoo Priests and Trance, which was published in Aperture Magazine. In 1988 Mr. Rome began a commission to photograph objects from the Nasher collections and travel to remote regions in Indonesia to document their ceremonial use; this became the basis for his first monograph, Forest, published by Nazraeli Press in 2005. In 2005, The Southeast Museum of Photography commissioned new works, Signs and Wonders. for an exhibition and catalog to inaugurate their new museum building, which opened in 2011, In 2010 Mr. Rome began a decades long project photographing with-inside Ancient Giant Redwoods and Sequoias for a project that became, Oculus and for which he was awarded a Simon Guggenheim Fellowship Award. Mr. Rome retired from teaching in 2019 as a Professor Emeritus. He continues to live and work in Philadelphia.