PKR
Mentor
This exposure seems to be expanding. Dustin Hoffman is the latest Hollywood actor sited. I wonder if this thing will work it's way to Washington DC ? The abuse of Congressional Pages is longstanding.
Once, a parent was proud to have a child selected to be a Page. Today, I don't think most in the know would allow their child to participate. Many predators in DC are legally untouchable.
Once, a parent was proud to have a child selected to be a Page. Today, I don't think most in the know would allow their child to participate. Many predators in DC are legally untouchable.
DrMcCoy
Member
kevin m
Mentor
I think it's on us as individuals to speak up when we can. It's the silence that allows perpetrators to assume their behavior is acceptable.
Years ago a friend of mine opened up a small restaurant with his brother. He had always been a bit of a playboy, but having young female staff proved a temptation he couldn't resist. His behavior hadn't changed, but the power dynamic had: He owned the place and had some small level of power over these girls. They were no longer equals.
PKR
Mentor
When I worked as a PJ, long ago, I was often sent to photograph political people. I never met one (presidential candidates included) that I would want as a neighbor, regardless of party. That kind of work attracts the kind of people I prefer to keep at a distance.
DrMcCoy
Member
Ditto. I worked with (and for) a few as a videographer. The best of them was definitely Mark Warner from Virginia. He was nice and seemed to genuinely care about improving people's lives (in the 7 hours I knew him). This being said, the amount of cutthroat drive and intensity he clearly has as an individual and businessman is scary. Not in a personally threatening way but, definitely a person working on a different level from everyone else in the room, and therefore removing him from a certain shared existence.
giganova
Well-known
I have a friend who became a fashion photographer for the sole purpose to f$$$ as many pretty girls as he could. 
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
I have a friend who became a fashion photographer for the sole purpose to f$$$ as many pretty girls as he could.
I will not mention the name, but a very famous and good looking photographer who is now deceased had a similar reputation of bedding down with his models.
Would Terry Richardson be judged differently if he was good looking?
Just because an abundance of ripe low laying fruit presents itself and is available does it mean you have to eat it. Also as far as sexuality and proclaimed virility, I deem it not only nicer, but profoundly richer not to use an advantage or exploitation.
This is coming from a guy who understands how sex can be meaningless.
Cal
Prest_400
Multiformat
Turns out that I share name with a once prominent politician. As a kid it was fun, under his administration. Afterwards there was a tax evasion scandal. I've had a fair share of jokes about it, though I don't care much anyways.
I felt there was an insidious force when I got into lots of hiring rejections without an obvious reason, even a job coach noted it. At least once when the hiring personnel blatantly asked about my political views and if I were affiliated to this politician.
A classmate in college was the son of a close member of the government and was in an affiliated party. He had an amazing respect towards me just because of the name. Another guy just talked way too much all the time, and sure I am happy not to have him around my life anymore.
There was a time where I could get into the party very easily, nowadays I don't think so. Neither it would be a good decision methinks.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
I for one as a photographer would want to be mostly known for my photography.
I do think good looks can effect judgements. I also think good looks can be a liability. Not nice or polite being looked upon as a sex object. It is very demeaning.
Exploiting one's own good looks is no justification, but this is both related and a separate problem.
From what I see not so many have what I call integrity.
Cal
I do think good looks can effect judgements. I also think good looks can be a liability. Not nice or polite being looked upon as a sex object. It is very demeaning.
Exploiting one's own good looks is no justification, but this is both related and a separate problem.
From what I see not so many have what I call integrity.
Cal
PKR
Mentor
"Photographer Terry Richardson Under Investigation by NYPD for Sex Crimes"
From Michael Zhang at PetaPixel
"Fashion photographer Terry Richardson is under investigation by the New York Police Department’s Special Victims Squad over accusations of sexual assault made by models Richardson has worked with. The news comes two months after a number of leading fashion magazines banned Richardson over the numerous accusations that have been made over the years.
The New York Daily News reports that NYPD investigators have reached out to multiple women in recent days requesting sit-down meetings.
The women claim that Richardson used his fame and influence to lure the women to photo shoots before sexually assaulting them in various ways, from exposing himself to forcing them to perform sexual acts.
“I was afraid and confused and hoping to get it over with. I left there feeling like human garbage,” former model Lindsay Jones tells the NY Daily News. “He thought I was disposable.”
In addition to the models behind the accusations, the NYPD has also contacted the advocacy group Model Alliance for help with the investigation.
Richardson and his lawyer say that all the sexual interactions the photographer has had with models were consensual, and Richardson has thus far denied all allegations against him."
https://petapixel.com/2018/01/03/photographer-terry-richardson-investigation-nypd-sex-crimes/
Terry Richardson under investigation by NYPD after models accuse him of sex assault
BY Brian NiemietzNancy Dillon
NY Daily News | 2018-01-02T18:15:19
Photographer Terry Richardson is the focus of a new investigation by the NYPD's Special Victims Squad, the Daily News has learned.
Multiple women confirmed Tuesday that investigators from the elite unit have reached out in recent weeks, asking for sit-down meetings regarding the lurid lensman.
The development follows a Dec. 15 cover story in The News detailing new allegations of sexual assault against the 52-year-old former fashion industry star who's shot everyone from Beyoncé and Miley Cyrus to President Obama.
Ex-model Caron Bernstein stepped forward in the piece with claims Richardson invited her to collaborate on an edgy, topless photo shoot at his Manhattan studio in 2003 and ambushed her with a sex assault.
Bernstein, 47, said Richardson exposed himself without warning, forced her to perform oral sex on him.
She told The News a special victims detective called her last month and set up a meeting for this week.
Former model Lindsay Jones confirmed she also received a similar call from a sex crimes detective. She plans to sit to be interviewed when she returns from an overseas trip, she said.
Jones went public with a harrowing claim against Richardson in a Dec. 14 HuffPost piece.
She retold the story to The News, claiming Richardson lured her to his studio in 2007 or 2008 with the promise of discussing a possible shoot over coffee.
She said seconds after he closed the door behind her, he caught her off-guard with a demand she get on her knees. She said he exposed himself and started jabbing his penis in her face. She complied with his demands out of fear, she said.
“I was afraid and confused and hoping to get it over with. I left there feeling like human garbage,” she told The News. “He thought I was disposable.”
A representative with Model Alliance further confirmed Tuesday that the advocacy group was contacted by police and is participating in an investigation.
A detective involved in the Richardson probe did not respond to a request for comment. An NYPD spokesman did not return a request for comment.
Richardson has consistently argued all his sexual interactions with models were consensual.
He vehemently denied assaulting Bernstein in a statement issued by his lawyer.
His attorney, Brad D. Rose, previously showed The News a series of photographs shot by Richardson that depicted semen on Bernstein's breasts. The images did not show her face.
“Ms. Bernstein knowingly and willingly posed for these photographs and at all times prior to and during the shoot, any contact she had with Mr. Richardson was consensual,” Rose told The News.
Bernstein called it “ludicrous” to suggest she willingly agreed to perform oral sex on Richardson.
“I didn't know this man from Adam. I would never walk in somewhere and agree to a sex act with a stranger. I've never done that in my entire life. Never in a million years,” she told The News last month.
© Copyright 2018 NYDailyNews.com. All rights reserved.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york...t-claims-investigation-nypd-article-1.3734049
From Michael Zhang at PetaPixel
"Fashion photographer Terry Richardson is under investigation by the New York Police Department’s Special Victims Squad over accusations of sexual assault made by models Richardson has worked with. The news comes two months after a number of leading fashion magazines banned Richardson over the numerous accusations that have been made over the years.
The New York Daily News reports that NYPD investigators have reached out to multiple women in recent days requesting sit-down meetings.
The women claim that Richardson used his fame and influence to lure the women to photo shoots before sexually assaulting them in various ways, from exposing himself to forcing them to perform sexual acts.
“I was afraid and confused and hoping to get it over with. I left there feeling like human garbage,” former model Lindsay Jones tells the NY Daily News. “He thought I was disposable.”
In addition to the models behind the accusations, the NYPD has also contacted the advocacy group Model Alliance for help with the investigation.
Richardson and his lawyer say that all the sexual interactions the photographer has had with models were consensual, and Richardson has thus far denied all allegations against him."
https://petapixel.com/2018/01/03/photographer-terry-richardson-investigation-nypd-sex-crimes/
Terry Richardson under investigation by NYPD after models accuse him of sex assault
BY Brian NiemietzNancy Dillon
NY Daily News | 2018-01-02T18:15:19
Photographer Terry Richardson is the focus of a new investigation by the NYPD's Special Victims Squad, the Daily News has learned.
Multiple women confirmed Tuesday that investigators from the elite unit have reached out in recent weeks, asking for sit-down meetings regarding the lurid lensman.
The development follows a Dec. 15 cover story in The News detailing new allegations of sexual assault against the 52-year-old former fashion industry star who's shot everyone from Beyoncé and Miley Cyrus to President Obama.
Ex-model Caron Bernstein stepped forward in the piece with claims Richardson invited her to collaborate on an edgy, topless photo shoot at his Manhattan studio in 2003 and ambushed her with a sex assault.
Bernstein, 47, said Richardson exposed himself without warning, forced her to perform oral sex on him.
She told The News a special victims detective called her last month and set up a meeting for this week.
Former model Lindsay Jones confirmed she also received a similar call from a sex crimes detective. She plans to sit to be interviewed when she returns from an overseas trip, she said.
Jones went public with a harrowing claim against Richardson in a Dec. 14 HuffPost piece.
She retold the story to The News, claiming Richardson lured her to his studio in 2007 or 2008 with the promise of discussing a possible shoot over coffee.
She said seconds after he closed the door behind her, he caught her off-guard with a demand she get on her knees. She said he exposed himself and started jabbing his penis in her face. She complied with his demands out of fear, she said.
“I was afraid and confused and hoping to get it over with. I left there feeling like human garbage,” she told The News. “He thought I was disposable.”
A representative with Model Alliance further confirmed Tuesday that the advocacy group was contacted by police and is participating in an investigation.
A detective involved in the Richardson probe did not respond to a request for comment. An NYPD spokesman did not return a request for comment.
Richardson has consistently argued all his sexual interactions with models were consensual.
He vehemently denied assaulting Bernstein in a statement issued by his lawyer.
His attorney, Brad D. Rose, previously showed The News a series of photographs shot by Richardson that depicted semen on Bernstein's breasts. The images did not show her face.
“Ms. Bernstein knowingly and willingly posed for these photographs and at all times prior to and during the shoot, any contact she had with Mr. Richardson was consensual,” Rose told The News.
Bernstein called it “ludicrous” to suggest she willingly agreed to perform oral sex on Richardson.
“I didn't know this man from Adam. I would never walk in somewhere and agree to a sex act with a stranger. I've never done that in my entire life. Never in a million years,” she told The News last month.
© Copyright 2018 NYDailyNews.com. All rights reserved.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york...t-claims-investigation-nypd-article-1.3734049
Uncle Terry's day is coming I guess...
PKR
Mentor
Could be, Terry's chickens are coming home to lay eggs ? With all his money, I would expect a long, drawn out, court battle, covered in detail by the tabloid press. We'll see his mug every time we stand in a grocery store check-out line for weeks.
Happy new year John.
pkr
fotomeow
name under my name
Or grow a pair and fight back ...
but let’s also be clear about the predatorial behavior, it is multilayered and similar with Weinstein and Richardson:
. Both Harvey and Terry employed young women assistants to lure their victims into compromising positions, even when the female assistants knew the men were sexually assaulting them
. Both the Board of Directors of the Weinstein Co and the magazine Editors who hire Terry knew of both Harvey’s and Terry’s assaultive behavior, respectively, yet looked the other way and continued to let it happen.
. But the Board Members and Editors will not be punished, despite their complicity.
... so yes, the abuse of power and lack of accountability ... like the banks and corporations that control our “democracy”
Huss
Mentor
It's deeper than that. Any famous person who had a session with Terry knew about his past. But that just made him 'edgy' and them cool to sit for a shoot with him.
These people are just as complicit, as are the long list of other celebs that worked with him:
Any denial of not knowing is just like Meryl Streep's denial of not knowing about Weinstein's behaviour. They all know, they just don't care until it affects them.
These people are just as complicit, as are the long list of other celebs that worked with him:
Any denial of not knowing is just like Meryl Streep's denial of not knowing about Weinstein's behaviour. They all know, they just don't care until it affects them.
PKR
Mentor
Yeah, they all knew. I'm sure that Obama's people had uncle Terry checked out too.. even if Obama didn't know before.. he certainly knew before the portrait session. Anna Wintour knew and kept hiring him. The Weinstein thing just gathered too much public awareness and forced the "separation". My guess is, if it hadn't been for the Weinstein thing, uncle Terry would still be planning his attacks on unsuspecting women..most were unsuspecting of an attack??.. I think? His reputation was well known in the NYC Photo Community and modeling agencies. I'm sure some of these women knew of uncle Terry's rep and what they might be in for..
It occurs to me, that these women may have signed modeling releases. It will be interesting to see what they might have agreed to, in a signed and witnessed (by one of uncle Terry's assistants) legal document. No releases, big trouble for uncle Terry.
PKR
Mentor
Thomas Roma, Photographer and Professor, Accused of Sexual Misconduct
By COLIN MOYNIHANJAN. 3, 2018
nytimes.com | Jan. 3, 2018
In 1999, when Mozhan Marno was an 18-year-old sophomore at Barnard College, one of her professors began talking with her about having an affair. Inside his office one day, the professor, Thomas Roma, removed her coat, lifted her shirt and pulled down her pants, she said. He put his mouth on her breast and placed her hand on his penis, she added — behavior she described as consensual, overwhelming and “controlled and initiated by him from beginning to end.”
Afterward, Ms. Marno said, she heard that Mr. Roma — a prominent photographer who teaches at Columbia University — regularly pursued sexual relationships with students, and became uncomfortable when he made suggestive remarks after promising to act only as a mentor that semester. In January 2000, she made a written complaint to Columbia. But out of embarrassment, Ms. Marno said, she provided a watered-down account to the school’s investigative panel.
The panel determined that she and Mr. Roma were both complicit in the incident, she said, a decision that left her thinking Columbia “should be ashamed of itself” for not investigating Mr. Roma more thoroughly.
“Everybody talks about moving through the world through mentorship,” she said. “I never got close to a male professor ever again.”
Ms. Marno, now an actress with credits on “House of Cards” and “The Blacklist,” is one of five women who spoke on the record with The New York Times to describe sexual misconduct by Mr. Roma, the director of the photography program at Columbia’s School of the Arts and a documentary photographer whose work is owned by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago and other museums. The Times also interviewed people with whom the women discussed Mr. Roma’s behavior at the time of those events or later.
The accusations depict behavior said to have occurred mostly in the 1990s and that followed a similar pattern: Mr. Roma started relationships with young women he taught at Columbia and at the School of Visual Arts, flattering and cajoling them, making sexual advances — and, one woman said, placing his penis in her mouth. He would also often remind them of his professional stature, the women said.
That stature carries considerable influence, beyond the usual power disparity between professor and student: In the field of photography, Mr. Roma could make a difference by providing letters of reference, recommendations for grants, and introductions to art dealers and collectors.
Mr. Roma, provided with details about the accounts of the women, declined to be interviewed. His lawyer told The Times that Mr. Roma disputes any suggestion that his behavior was ever coercive and that the professor had cooperated fully with Columbia’s inquiry into Ms. Marno’s complaint.
The lawyer, Douglas Jacobs, issued a statement saying that Mr. Roma was “shocked” by the accusations from the other four women.
“The statements they are making about his asserted misconduct are replete with inaccuracies and falsehoods,” Mr. Jacobs said. “All four have taken isolated, innocent incidents, none of them predatory, and have created fictitious versions of reality that are libelous and in the present political climate designed to damage his career and his personal life. Professor Roma’s sympathies then and now lie with those who have been mistreated in any way and he completely fails to understand why these women have chosen to create these complaints two decades after the alleged facts supposedly occurred.”
Four of the five women attended the School of Visual Arts around the same time; some were friends there and have stayed close. Joyce Kaye, a spokeswoman for S.V.A., said the school “does not have a record of any complaints against Mr. Roma” when he taught there in the 1980s and ‘90s.
Suzanne Goldberg, Columbia’s executive vice president for university life, said in response to the accusations against Mr. Roma: “It is our standard practice to investigate whenever we receive a report that a faculty member may have sexually harassed a student.”
•Opt out or contact us anytime
Ms. Goldberg said that university policy forbids faculty members from having sexual relationships with students they oversee. Columbia, like many schools, has been trying to navigate ongoing campus debates about how best to handle student allegations of sexual misconduct. Ms. Goldberg said Columbia “looks differently at these matters today than 20 years ago” when Ms. Marno filed her complaint. “Our policies on faculty conduct have been strengthened accordingly in recent years,” she said. This year, William V. Harris, a professor of Greco-Roman history, retired after accusations that he had harassed three students.
Mr. Roma, whose best known work includes black-and-white images of worshipers in African-American churches and portraits of people at the Brooklyn criminal courthouse, has received two Guggenheim fellowships and had solo shows at the Museum of Modern Art and the International Center of Photography. He is married to a daughter of Lee Friedlander, a giant in the world of documentary photography, and has published 15 monographs with introductions by writers like Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Norman Mailer. His teaching career includes stints at Fordham, Cooper Union and Yale, according to his website.
The five women described Mr. Roma as a charming and charismatic teacher who cultivated a streetwise persona and emphasized perseverance, sacrifice and dedication to craft. The women, as well as some former students who posted anonymously online about Mr. Roma’s teaching, said that he could be an unsparing critic, but also had the ability to instill confidence and inspire.
One of the women, Ash Thayer, a filmmaker and artist in Los Angeles, said she studied with Mr. Roma in the mid-1990s at S.V.A., then in the graduate program at Columbia, where she was also his teaching assistant. In 1999, Ms. Thayer said, she was working in Mr. Roma’s office at Columbia shortly after a mutual friend, the photographer Raghubir Singh, had died. Ms. Thayer said that she was sitting at a desk when Mr. Roma asked her to turn around. His penis was erect, she said, and he moved toward her. She repeatedly said “no,” but Mr. Roma placed his penis in her mouth before she pushed him away and left, Ms. Thayer said, estimating that the encounter lasted perhaps 30 seconds.
“I froze,” she said. “He committed oral rape against me.”
Allison Ward, a student at S.V.A. in the mid-1990s, said she had several sexual encounters with Mr. Roma. One occurred in a classroom, she said, recalling that she “was mortified and embarrassed but went along with it.” Ms. Ward said that she had wanted to please Mr. Roma and gain his acceptance, adding “he was the first person in my life who had connected my passion for photography with a path forward.” Mr. Roma did not force any contact, she said, but had been “predatory” and had “crossed a line” by seeking a sexual relationship.
“He was coercive and would keep trying,” she said. “He was a little relentless.”
Another S.V.A. student in the mid-90s, Angela Cappetta, said that after repeated requests she allowed Mr. Roma to photograph her in her apartment. There, she said, Mr. Roma asked to touch her breast and put her hand on his crotch. “I thought I’d have to go along with it or it would be detrimental,” she said. She drew the line when he asked to have sex, she added.
On campus, Mr. Roma often surrounded himself with a coterie of male and female students who would sort his negatives and act as teaching assistants, the five women said, adding that Mr. Roma would regularly invite students on outings or to gatherings at his house in Park Slope.
In 1997, Ilana Rein, a graduate student at S.V.A., said that Mr. Roma, who was then her thesis adviser, invited her to a backyard gathering. He asked her into his photo studio, then bluntly stated that he needed something from her and placed her hand on his crotch, Ms. Rein said. Taken aback, she did not object, but soon began feeling ill, removed her hand and left.
“I was blindsided because I thought we were going to look at photographs,” Ms. Rein, now a filmmaker in Los Angeles, said. “This is someone who I trusted.”
Some of the former students stayed in touch with Mr. Roma after these encounters, saying that they were intimidated, sought his help or wanted to believe that his behavior had been out of character. But, some added, Mr. Roma could be dismissive or even cruel to those who had rebuffed him.
Ms. Rein said that during a trip to Coney Island with students after her encounter with Mr. Roma, he repeatedly singled her out for mockery, while others laughed. “There was a kind of violence to it,” she said. “He had such a vise grip on us back then.”
Ms. Thayer said she blocked out memories of the office incident and, after graduating, remained in sporadic touch with Mr. Roma, exchanging emails and sometimes asking for recommendations or advice. In 2014, she said, she met Mr. Roma in Brooklyn and let him know that a book of her photographs was about to be published. He told her he might be able to help her get a teaching job at Columbia, Ms. Thayer said, but then implied that he would expect intimate contact in return. She has not seen or spoken with Mr. Roma since.
“I just kept wanting him to be the mentor that he was supposed to be,” Ms. Thayer said. “But I realized that there was not going to be a time when he was not inappropriate with me and asking for a sexual relationship.”
© 2018 The New York Times Company
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/03/arts/design/thomas-roma-sexual-misconduct.html
I always thought Roma was weird..
pkr
.
By COLIN MOYNIHANJAN. 3, 2018
nytimes.com | Jan. 3, 2018
In 1999, when Mozhan Marno was an 18-year-old sophomore at Barnard College, one of her professors began talking with her about having an affair. Inside his office one day, the professor, Thomas Roma, removed her coat, lifted her shirt and pulled down her pants, she said. He put his mouth on her breast and placed her hand on his penis, she added — behavior she described as consensual, overwhelming and “controlled and initiated by him from beginning to end.”
Afterward, Ms. Marno said, she heard that Mr. Roma — a prominent photographer who teaches at Columbia University — regularly pursued sexual relationships with students, and became uncomfortable when he made suggestive remarks after promising to act only as a mentor that semester. In January 2000, she made a written complaint to Columbia. But out of embarrassment, Ms. Marno said, she provided a watered-down account to the school’s investigative panel.
The panel determined that she and Mr. Roma were both complicit in the incident, she said, a decision that left her thinking Columbia “should be ashamed of itself” for not investigating Mr. Roma more thoroughly.
“Everybody talks about moving through the world through mentorship,” she said. “I never got close to a male professor ever again.”
Ms. Marno, now an actress with credits on “House of Cards” and “The Blacklist,” is one of five women who spoke on the record with The New York Times to describe sexual misconduct by Mr. Roma, the director of the photography program at Columbia’s School of the Arts and a documentary photographer whose work is owned by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago and other museums. The Times also interviewed people with whom the women discussed Mr. Roma’s behavior at the time of those events or later.
The accusations depict behavior said to have occurred mostly in the 1990s and that followed a similar pattern: Mr. Roma started relationships with young women he taught at Columbia and at the School of Visual Arts, flattering and cajoling them, making sexual advances — and, one woman said, placing his penis in her mouth. He would also often remind them of his professional stature, the women said.
That stature carries considerable influence, beyond the usual power disparity between professor and student: In the field of photography, Mr. Roma could make a difference by providing letters of reference, recommendations for grants, and introductions to art dealers and collectors.
Mr. Roma, provided with details about the accounts of the women, declined to be interviewed. His lawyer told The Times that Mr. Roma disputes any suggestion that his behavior was ever coercive and that the professor had cooperated fully with Columbia’s inquiry into Ms. Marno’s complaint.
The lawyer, Douglas Jacobs, issued a statement saying that Mr. Roma was “shocked” by the accusations from the other four women.
“The statements they are making about his asserted misconduct are replete with inaccuracies and falsehoods,” Mr. Jacobs said. “All four have taken isolated, innocent incidents, none of them predatory, and have created fictitious versions of reality that are libelous and in the present political climate designed to damage his career and his personal life. Professor Roma’s sympathies then and now lie with those who have been mistreated in any way and he completely fails to understand why these women have chosen to create these complaints two decades after the alleged facts supposedly occurred.”
Four of the five women attended the School of Visual Arts around the same time; some were friends there and have stayed close. Joyce Kaye, a spokeswoman for S.V.A., said the school “does not have a record of any complaints against Mr. Roma” when he taught there in the 1980s and ‘90s.
Suzanne Goldberg, Columbia’s executive vice president for university life, said in response to the accusations against Mr. Roma: “It is our standard practice to investigate whenever we receive a report that a faculty member may have sexually harassed a student.”
•Opt out or contact us anytime
Ms. Goldberg said that university policy forbids faculty members from having sexual relationships with students they oversee. Columbia, like many schools, has been trying to navigate ongoing campus debates about how best to handle student allegations of sexual misconduct. Ms. Goldberg said Columbia “looks differently at these matters today than 20 years ago” when Ms. Marno filed her complaint. “Our policies on faculty conduct have been strengthened accordingly in recent years,” she said. This year, William V. Harris, a professor of Greco-Roman history, retired after accusations that he had harassed three students.
Mr. Roma, whose best known work includes black-and-white images of worshipers in African-American churches and portraits of people at the Brooklyn criminal courthouse, has received two Guggenheim fellowships and had solo shows at the Museum of Modern Art and the International Center of Photography. He is married to a daughter of Lee Friedlander, a giant in the world of documentary photography, and has published 15 monographs with introductions by writers like Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Norman Mailer. His teaching career includes stints at Fordham, Cooper Union and Yale, according to his website.
The five women described Mr. Roma as a charming and charismatic teacher who cultivated a streetwise persona and emphasized perseverance, sacrifice and dedication to craft. The women, as well as some former students who posted anonymously online about Mr. Roma’s teaching, said that he could be an unsparing critic, but also had the ability to instill confidence and inspire.
One of the women, Ash Thayer, a filmmaker and artist in Los Angeles, said she studied with Mr. Roma in the mid-1990s at S.V.A., then in the graduate program at Columbia, where she was also his teaching assistant. In 1999, Ms. Thayer said, she was working in Mr. Roma’s office at Columbia shortly after a mutual friend, the photographer Raghubir Singh, had died. Ms. Thayer said that she was sitting at a desk when Mr. Roma asked her to turn around. His penis was erect, she said, and he moved toward her. She repeatedly said “no,” but Mr. Roma placed his penis in her mouth before she pushed him away and left, Ms. Thayer said, estimating that the encounter lasted perhaps 30 seconds.
“I froze,” she said. “He committed oral rape against me.”
Allison Ward, a student at S.V.A. in the mid-1990s, said she had several sexual encounters with Mr. Roma. One occurred in a classroom, she said, recalling that she “was mortified and embarrassed but went along with it.” Ms. Ward said that she had wanted to please Mr. Roma and gain his acceptance, adding “he was the first person in my life who had connected my passion for photography with a path forward.” Mr. Roma did not force any contact, she said, but had been “predatory” and had “crossed a line” by seeking a sexual relationship.
“He was coercive and would keep trying,” she said. “He was a little relentless.”
Another S.V.A. student in the mid-90s, Angela Cappetta, said that after repeated requests she allowed Mr. Roma to photograph her in her apartment. There, she said, Mr. Roma asked to touch her breast and put her hand on his crotch. “I thought I’d have to go along with it or it would be detrimental,” she said. She drew the line when he asked to have sex, she added.
On campus, Mr. Roma often surrounded himself with a coterie of male and female students who would sort his negatives and act as teaching assistants, the five women said, adding that Mr. Roma would regularly invite students on outings or to gatherings at his house in Park Slope.
In 1997, Ilana Rein, a graduate student at S.V.A., said that Mr. Roma, who was then her thesis adviser, invited her to a backyard gathering. He asked her into his photo studio, then bluntly stated that he needed something from her and placed her hand on his crotch, Ms. Rein said. Taken aback, she did not object, but soon began feeling ill, removed her hand and left.
“I was blindsided because I thought we were going to look at photographs,” Ms. Rein, now a filmmaker in Los Angeles, said. “This is someone who I trusted.”
Some of the former students stayed in touch with Mr. Roma after these encounters, saying that they were intimidated, sought his help or wanted to believe that his behavior had been out of character. But, some added, Mr. Roma could be dismissive or even cruel to those who had rebuffed him.
Ms. Rein said that during a trip to Coney Island with students after her encounter with Mr. Roma, he repeatedly singled her out for mockery, while others laughed. “There was a kind of violence to it,” she said. “He had such a vise grip on us back then.”
Ms. Thayer said she blocked out memories of the office incident and, after graduating, remained in sporadic touch with Mr. Roma, exchanging emails and sometimes asking for recommendations or advice. In 2014, she said, she met Mr. Roma in Brooklyn and let him know that a book of her photographs was about to be published. He told her he might be able to help her get a teaching job at Columbia, Ms. Thayer said, but then implied that he would expect intimate contact in return. She has not seen or spoken with Mr. Roma since.
“I just kept wanting him to be the mentor that he was supposed to be,” Ms. Thayer said. “But I realized that there was not going to be a time when he was not inappropriate with me and asking for a sexual relationship.”
© 2018 The New York Times Company
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/03/arts/design/thomas-roma-sexual-misconduct.html
I always thought Roma was weird..
pkr
.