Photographer Jim Rimi: An Interview

 By Dr. Mullin

Jim Rimi is a native of Washington, NJ (the one in Warren County), and is the operator of the photography sector of Rimi Studios.  He is publishing a book of photography, NY Underground, that will most likely be released this month.

NY Underground is a collection of black and white photographs of homeless people and street musicians taken in shelters, on the streets and in the subways of New York City. 

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First of all, when and how did photography really become a passion for you?

Rimi: I've been into photography a long time. Even in the first grade I can remember my teacher said, "Think of your eyes as a camera," and I remember that I'd go around looking at the other kids and pretend I was taking pictures of them.  And, my uncle was a photographer, so I used to see his cameras all the time and I got very excited about that.  When I was 16 I went into the city with a bunch of money stuffed in my boot and I bought my first camera and that was it.  I still have that camera today.  It's my favorite camera and it still works great, it's a Nikon F2.  Beautiful camera.

One of the things I can say was a huge influence in my life was when I was in high school.  I really wasn't into school that much, and I went to school in West New York, and it was the type of thing where you don't even know if you want to stay in school.  They just so happened to hire a photography teacher at the time and the guy really took me under his wing.  He saw that I loved photography.  He would take me out shooting with him and then he told me, "You know, you can go to school for photography."  And I wasn't planning on going to college, but I got into school with my portfolio, so he definitely changed my life, and that's the reason why I also teach.  I like teaching to give back, and to me that's what it's about.

So what is this book all about?  How did get started?

Rimi: This was a project that started in the 80's, and what it is is basically photographs of homeless street musicians and also people living in the shelters.  I started photographing most of these people in the shelters and I went from there to photographing homeless on the street and in the subways and then street musicians, and it pretty much became a documentary project on these people.  I had some interviews with them and a lot of these people were famous people or writers or doctors or lawyers and due to some circumstances, they wound up homeless.  It could have been a nervous breakdown or drugs or alcohol, and through life's experiences, depending on how you handle things and which road you take, you can wind up in this situation.  It's a split second, you know? 

We take for granted that we just go along each day, but you have to really thank the Lord that we are in the position that we are in, and recognize that it's not like these things can't happen to anybody.  That's really part of the premise of the book.  I'm using it as a tool to help people.  When the book is published a percentage of the proceeds is going to go to the Salvation Army, and I also feel that maybe by people seeing this it will affect a certain amount of people and possibly turn them away from [a self-destructive] road.

You know, you're walking in a city and you see a homeless person, or a person who is just walking down the street, talking to themselves, that sort of thing.  Most peoples' first reaction is to turn away, but what I wanted to do is to photograph that person so that you have to look at them.  I wanted to put that across to people - this is a person, too, you know, and I'm making you look at this person now. 

How did this whole process go from a logistics aspect, shooting in shelters and on the street?

Rimi: In the shelter I shot against a nine-foot tall seamless white backdrop.  Sometimes I would drive in, other times I would bring this thing on the subway.  Not kidding, almost knocked this woman's teeth out one time trying to maneuver it - it rolls up into a skinny tube.  I would photograph hundreds of people.  In the shelter I would set this thing up and there would be a line of people who were really into it, and there were just tons and tons of people.  Then on the street it was more of who I saw, and I would always ask them first if I could take a picture of them.

This guy here, Roger Ridley, became somewhat of a famous musician.  He did some stuff with Disney and things like that.  Unfortunately he passed away a couple of years ago.  But really unbelievable voice on this man, you could hear it echoing through Grand Central Station, and I will never forget it, never.  And I guess that's what this is all about, it's about people.  And the great thing is that it will be used to help people.

Are there any interesting stories from when you were out shooting?

Rimi: I was photographing this guy and it was about two in the morning - I would photograph these people from about 11 at night until two in the morning - and this guy was just wigging out.  He was behind these bars and acting like a monkey.  So I'm photographing him and all of a sudden I feel this presence, this big presence, behind me.  There is no one down in the subway because it's like 10 degrees, and I'm like, "Oh man, this is not good."  You know, you get this feeling.  And I turn around and there is this huge guy, just huge, with this big army coat on.  And he looks at me and he goes, "What are you doing?"  And I just said, "I'm photographing this guy."  And he goes, "I don't think that's a good idea."  And he opens his coat and he has a sawed-off shotgun in his coat.  I remember distracting him somehow, and he looked this way and I went that way and that was that. 

It was very, very dangerous doing this at the time, and I can tell you that while I was doing this there was always in the back of my mind that I might not come home.  My wife used to freak out because I wouldn't come home until two, three, four in the morning.  I had to stop for a while because you get burned out from doing this sort of thing, and then I went back and finished it.

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Be sure to check out the links, especially the one for Roger Ridley - after being homeless, he rose to a mild level of prominence, doing work with Disney and the NBA, among others.  This video is of him on the Third Street Promenade of Santa Monica, Calif., singing Sam Cooke's "Bring It On Home To Me" - amazing to listen to.

And be sure to stop by Bluestockings in NYC for the next Broad Set Reading on Jan. 29 at 7 p.m.!  Tell everyone you know!  Tell random people you meet in the movie theater!  Tell your in-laws (if you have them)!