Roberta Scott

Scott’s photographs are vivid recreations of the world around her. Her favorite thing to do is to take ordinary, everyday things and make them beautiful. One of her favorite photographs in her portfolio is of a thistle. The purples and greens compliment each other in a way that people wouldn’t normally think of while weeding a whole bunch of them in their garden. She can transform what one would typically consider a weed into an exquisite flower.

We found an ideal spot on a bench in the garden underneath an arched, wooden lattice strewn with green ivy. It was then I noticed that Scott has the most amazing eyes. They are framed with laugh lines and glisten with some far-off emotion. She carries herself with pride, yet with humility. She is a perfect study in balance. 

Roberta is a respected artist, as well as teacher. Her art has been showcased at the Horticultural Society of New York, and the New Jersey Audubon Society. She has had her work published in the New York Times. She teaches workshops at The NJ Div. of Fish, Game, and Wildlife, the New Jersey Printmaking Council and the Hunterdon Museum of Art. She is also the author of two books. 

Scott, now a resident of Dunellen, NJ, is originally from Jersey City. She says that she isn’t sure why she chose nature photography over another type, but she guessed something had to have influenced her -- perhaps her father.

“He loved to garden,” Scott said, “Even in our little two-inch plot in the back of the house in Jersey City, he’d be trying to grow his vegetables and his flowers. Something got in somewhere.”

Scott took her first interest in the field at age eight when she picked up a Brownie Hawkeye camera and photographed one of her neighbors. She took a picture of him in (what was then) Westside Park near a fountain, and the end product was a wonderful print of this boy silhouetted against the fountain.

“...There was something about seeing the result of that photograph that just charged me,” Scott said. 

She was first enthralled with the idea of being a crime photographer. Her parents joked about it and, although they didn’t mean to dissuade her, her feelings were hurt. For awhile, she put down the camera.

Scott began to hone in on what she loved most during college. While attending the University of Idaho as a Theater Arts major, she learned the essentials of photography. Though at the time she didn’t realize it was photography that would ultimately become her main concentration, she now attributes her knowledge of color, light, and composition to her classes at UI. 

She began photographing after college when she was given a camera by a close friend. She would often borrow her friend’s camera and, after a few rounds of this, her friend bought her a camera of her own. The part of her that was charged by photographs came through once more.

“All of a sudden I just took that camera and was off and running again,” she said.

As a professional photographer, taking photographs still charges Scott. However, she often struggles with money. She has to take on other jobs to make ends meet. Whatever jobs she’s had in her life, they’ve been to survive. Scott would like to be in a position where she could concentrate on photography alone, and is currently applying for a grant to make that happen.

“To me, a job is a job: it’s work. I mean, listen to that, work,” Scott said. “Whereas, I can work very hard at what I do creatively but it’s a different kind of work, because this is where my soul is, this is where my heart is. You see, so sure I want to share that with the world.”

One of the ways Scott defrays her photo costs is by teaching photography workshops to people with all levels of expertise. Currently she is conducting photo workshops at the New Jersey Division of Fish, Game, and Wildlife. She’s helping out primarily with a program entitled “Becoming an Outdoors Woman,” introducing nature photography to women. The organization recently gave her a grant, which allows her to teach the things publicly that she had been teaching only on a private basis. They are now bringing the clients to her. 

“I think teachers just get a bad rap all around,” Scott said, “I’d like to see half the people that put teachers down actually be in a classroom for a full day.”

Scott tries to help women more than men because she feels women have a more difficult time in the arts, as in most areas. She finds, though, that women can be harder to help than men. 
“It’s very hard to reach women sometimes, to help them to focus seriously on themselves and on their own creativity and pull them along,” Scott says. “Cause there’s just too many obstacles, it seems, along the way.”

Scott expressed her joy at seeing the women in these workshops thrive in a non-threatening, non-patronizing environment. She pointed out that women don’t often have the opportunity to figure out who they are creatively until they have raised their kids and are on their own again. 

As a child, Scott never thought photography would be a viable career for her because at that time, women were expected only to grow up, get married and tend to their children. There wasn’t much talk of women going to college and establishing careers for themselves.

Scott takes pride in the fact that she has been so self-motivated. She never had mentors when she was growing up.

“It’s been a struggle for me, because I’ve had to educate myself,” she said. “Mentorship is very important. And there’s not enough of it.” 

Scott took a sip of her tea and appeared deep in thought, her face dappled with friendly sunlight.

While she hasn’t had mentors, she has had plenty of support from friends. All four of the camera bodies she now owns were gifts. She says that, while her friends can’t mentor her, she feels blessed to have such supportive people in her life.

These days, Scott does have some artist camaraderie: she belongs to a group called CYCLES Women in the Arts. This is a talented group of about 30 women who hold art shows together, but spend most of their time encouraging each other. She has begun a project: “Stonehenge 2000, a.c.” She says that she has become excited about using mixed media and building with stone to give the realistic feel to the physical properties of the monoliths, while still incorporating her own photographs.

Clearly, Scott is not just a nature photographer.

“Sometimes people think I only do nature photography, which I love, there’s no question about it,” Scott said, “But... I wish people would be of the philosophy of Native Americans... that if we’re given these gifts and these talents, why are we sitting around saying... ‘who on the pecking order is really an artist, and who isn’t?’... I just wish we could get all on the same page.”

Scott has self-published a children’s book entitled The Full Moon, a mini-novel illustrated by Pat Basirico, describing how the dark side of the moon feels neglected and sad that the light side always gets so much attention. 

She has completed another children’s book about abuse called The Should Monster, and she is currently looking for a publisher.

There is not much that can get in the way of Scott when she wants something done, but the money issue does present a road block. 

She spoke her mind about what getting a grant would mean for her. “[I just] started a new job, and I hate to say it... but I would literally give up the job if I had to do that,” Scott said, “...I can’t afford to not accept a grant that would, for the first time in my life, give me six weeks of nothing else to do but be in a darkroom.”

It is very appropriate to interview Scott in a rose garden; she is completely in her element there. After the interview, we walked around the garden and she took pictures as we talked. It’s hard to imagine Scott in an atmosphere other than the garden on that brilliant autumn afternoon.

“Here, look at this glorious day -- where would I rather be?” Scott said.

Scott can be likened to her photograph of the thistle: she has proven herself beautiful amidst a bed of naysayers and conformists of the past (and present). She has thrived as a photographer maybe not financially, but personally. She has come forth from an era when women were not expected to be anything more than homemakers into a life where she can be herself. So for now, Scott has her day job, but she’s living for her art.  

“I’m sure that when they’re throwing dirt on my face, I’ll have my camera in there with me,” Scott says. 

Autographed copies of The Full Moon are on sale at Borders Books and Music in Bridgewater, New Jersey. Roberta can be contacted through the Printmaking Council of New Jersey, at (908) 725-2110.