About

Dorie Dahlberg grew-up in New Jersey on the Atlantic coast, a crowded summer destination for New Yorkers & north Jersey vacationers although quite desolate in the off-seasons. She interrupted her university education to live in the cold northern Midwest of the US and the deserts of the Southwest. She returned to New Jersey to finish a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Rutgers University, drawing/intaglio concentration. For 25 years, Dorie was an art educator in Newark Public Schools, an urban district in the New York City area. She attended graduate school at Pratt Institute (NYC) & completed a Master of Education Administration at St. Peter’s University. For 21 years Dorie lived in metro NYC, where she raised her daughter. At present, Dorie is an adjunct professor at New Jersey City University, Co-President of Pro Arts Jersey City, an artist-run non-profit organization, and a resident of the Jersey Shore once again.

When I was 19, I joined a small photography interest group learning pre-digital camera & darkroom basics but never thought of showing photographs. As an art student, I didn't study photography academically: my concentration was intaglio printing making and drawing. In 2004 I began self-study to transition from drawing to digital photography. I had some immediate gratification by winning awards and gaining exposure. While scanning my early negatives in early 2016, I realized I was more comfortable with analog cameras. I now have a small collection of 35mm & 120mm cameras to which I assign specific projects. I have recently been shooting digital photographs again. I don't plan to give up analog photography.
I think in series and narratives. Although I often include people in my photographs, sometimes I'm more interested in the things they leave behind.

Because of the pandemic, my eight month project about commuting and the failures of our transit system had to become a video instead of photographs hanging on a wall in a physical space. This year Pro Arts had three multi-disciplinary groups; I was a member of The Commentators. We were a group of five women artists; two painters, a sculptor, a film maker, and me.
Eyes on the Road became a series of photographs taken with a Rollei35 during my 100-mile roundtrips from my home to New Jersey City University, visiting my daughter, or attending art events and back again.