Calendar
The meeting will start promptly at 7 pm, but we’ll open the building at 6 pm for setup and social hour.
Join us for our Monthly Critique Night!
Our judge for May will be Monica Royal.
Members bring prints for critique on the third Wednesday of each month. Prints accepted by the Judge will hang for up to 2 months in the Photographic Arts Building gallery.
Visitors are welcome, however, submitting images for critique is available for members only. If you’d like more information about joining Darkroomers, please check out our membership page and email us if you have any questions.
About Monica
Monica is a macro photographer known for turning ordinary subjects into images that stop people in their tracks. Her work often sparks the same reaction: “That’s beautiful… but what is it?” That sense of curiosity is at the core of what she does.
Her path into macro photography started with simple experimentation and a natural fascination with small details. Over time, that curiosity grew into a focused practice. With more than a decade of experience, she has developed a strong understanding of light, texture, and how her lens interprets the world up close.
For Monica, macro photography is both craft and play. It’s a way to slow down, explore, and reconnect with a sense of wonder. Whether she’s photographing frost, a drop of oil in water, or a torn piece of plastic, her goal is the same—to show that beauty exists in places most people overlook.
Her work invites viewers to look closer and rethink what they see.
Head to the fair on opening day and stay for the International Exhibition of Photography artist’s reception! Many Darkroomers members will have their images displayed on the walls, so please come out and support the photography community.
The meeting will start promptly at 7 pm, but we’ll open the building at 6 pm for setup and social hour.
Join us for our Monthly Critique Night!
Our judge for June will be Jim Selkin.
Members bring prints for critique on the third Wednesday of each month. Prints accepted by the Judge will hang for up to 2 months in the Photographic Arts Building gallery.
Visitors are welcome, however, submitting images for critique is available for members only. If you’d like more information about joining Darkroomers, please check out our membership page and email us if you have any questions.
About Jim
Jim’s life in photography started early. At age four, his father handed him a Brownie Instamatic, and he never looked back. By age six, he was attending photo conventions in New York City. He still has that first camera today.
In college, Jim studied under Walter Rosenblum, whose teaching helped shape and clarify his photographic vision. While doing graduate work in architecture at Columbia University, Jim traveled to Tahiti to study the places where his favorite Impressionist artist, Paul Gauguin, lived and worked. That trip changed the way he saw the world through a camera.
Soon after, Jim became a contract photographer for Air France in New York. His assignments included serving as the official Air France photographer for the inauguration of the Concorde. A three-month international assignment took him to Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, and Paris, followed by additional work throughout France.
His travel photography was represented by The Image Bank and later by Getty Images. His images have appeared in Travel + Leisure, National Geographic Traveler, and through several Japanese agencies.
Jim later shifted into art direction, working with major New York agencies on travel and cosmetics accounts. He also served as a photography and commercial judge for The One Show. During that time, he worked with several influential creative figures, including Henry Wolf, Hiro, Anthony Edgeworth, and Pete Turner.
After moving to the West Coast, Jim continued working in travel photography and visual storytelling, with assignments for Tourism Fiji, Tourism New Zealand, projects throughout Southeast Asia, and a return to Japan. He also lived and worked in Saigon for three years, before and during the pandemic, where he created photo stories about daily life in the city through the eyes of an expat.
Jim has judged for photography organizations across California, including PPA, PSA, county fairs, and local photo groups. While he brings a deep technical and professional background to judging, his greater focus is helping photographers develop their own vision.
A former Canon Pro, Jim now photographs with Fuji and mentors photographers in several countries. He has led photo tours to France and Vietnam and continues to develop travel photography opportunities focused on Indigenous cultures and off-the-beaten-path locations.
One lesson continues to guide his work:
“Photography teaches patience.”
For Jim, that means slowing down, being present, and becoming one with the camera.