JUSTIN ROSENBERG

BY CÉLIABERLEMONT

TO Cure My Wounds Open Them Up

@jsrphotos / jsrphotos.com

With an inspiration that endures and transforms, photographer Justin Rosenberg’s artwork is an uncanny “expression and exteriorization of one’s true self”, inclusive of all its substance and scars. Reverberations of his own being, Rosenberg’s work is a parallel of a tormented past and a sustaining present; images that explore the human structure and the cracks that inevitably emerge within its delicate design. What could look or feel at first glance as fragile a display and obscure a portrayal as Rosenberg’s Fractured series?

Stemming from an ongoing battle with Crohn’s disease, which led Rosenberg to being “sliced open and put back together again” more times than he could count, his Fractured series proves that every person is more than the mere sum of their parts.

Captivated by naturally occurring fractures, cracks, holes and scars in his surrounding environment, Rosenberg addresses the entire body as a fragmented work of art, a container for fundamental and contributing factors to one’s own story that do, in all their shapes and echoes, act as a catalyzer for ineffable beauty.

Before his journey moved into healthy sublimation, Rosenberg also suffered from a substance use disorder. In 2011, he decided to join a treatment center in Los Angeles, which quickly initiated a combined process of health recovery and professional discovery. Spotted for his photography skills, it took only a few months for Rosenberg to join on as an intern with the non-profit advertising agency owned by the rehabilitation center, and from there, he quickly became their lead staff photographer.

Run solely by people in long term recovery themselves, the agency is designed to fund the treatment of those in need of its services but who can’t afford its price. Aptly and positively encouraging personal and professional states of mind, the unique fusion of understanding offered

by the agency embraces everyone’s struggles and supports them through it, allowing people like Rosenberg to channel their difficulties into creative works. At Creative Matters Agency, the weekly meetings did not only consist of deadlines and clientele-related talking points, but also included discussions about the personal recovery of each member. “Not being a typical agency, we all had a unique perspective and gratitude towards the agency that cannot be found at most other companies,” explains Rosenberg.

Although the agency’s main client was the rehabilitation center itself, the external client portfolio, made up of non-profit associations and forprofit businesses, served as a launching pad for Rosenberg’s career with the production of billboard campaigns, magazine publications and general advertising. In light of his achievements, Rosenberg began yearning to freelance as a photographer full-time, which he successfully did in July of 2014, and hasn’t looked back since.

Now his client, Rosenberg’s love for the agency reflects a strong appreciation towards those who have empowered him to evolve, grasp and determine his future. Continuing with his growth, Rosenberg is now in the process of moving away from commercial photography to transition to more artistic forms of the craft.

While his commercial shootings are the traditional “bright and happy” images, his artistic portraiture is raw, gripping and undeniably compelling. Rosenberg’s art does not consist of outlining people as they appear to be, but rather, unveils their hidden side, concealed distortions and unmitigated vulnerability.

Whatever the source of his struggles, Rosenberg has used them as inspiration for his success as a photographer. Ultimately, as an embodiment of self-discovery through bleaker moments, Rosenberg has been able to access and achieve a series of alluringly chasmal portraiture, which not only invites self-reflection and contemplation but also the self-surrender of one who is allowing the perfect unfolding of their true self.

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