Half life of an artist: Photographer Rajah Bose reflects on his career in exhibit ‘Middlelife’ at Bryan Oliver Gallery

Rajah Bose was drawn to photography in early life primarily as a hobby. Inspired by his mother, “the family historian,” Bose was constantly experimenting with her camera, one he still uses to this day.

“I was always sneaking it away from her – I actually have that camera sitting right next to me,” he said. “But at some point, it just became clear I needed to find my own.”

He started saving, mowing neighbors’ lawns and spending all his allowance on film. And yet, despite devoting hours of his free time and passion to photography, to him it was still just a hobby.

Plans to follow in his father’s footsteps into electrical engineering were at the forefront. “It wasn’t an artistic pursuit at the time,” he said. In his teenage mind, photography was a “cool thing” he could do, something more utilitarian than art.

He’d never considered himself an artist, only ever a photographer. It’s only now, nearly 30 years later, that he’s started to do so.

Bose’s “Middlelife,” a retrospective exhibition covering the last two decades of his life’s work, is now on display at Whitworth University’s Bryan Oliver Gallery through March 25.

The exhibit combines more than 25,000 photographs taken across the course of Bose’s career with sculpture and video presentation. When gallery director Lance Sinnema invited him to create an exhibition, Bose had never considered attempting a similar project.

“But as things came together, it seemed the obvious thing to do here was to have a look back,” he said. “To look back at this 20-year period … from the moment my camera became a tool for the infinite possibilities of storytelling.”

Born in Minneapolis and raised in Phoenix, Bose moved to Pullman with his family when he started high school. In 1998, during undergrad at Washington State University, he joined the school newspaper and found a viable path back to photography, this time through journalism.

“They’d say, ‘Hey, go shoot this,’ and I put it on that old camera I bought when I was a kid and … and suddenly those photos were in the newspaper the next day,” he said. “You know, you get your byline on something, and that really opens your eyes.

“You realize, ‘Wow, these pictures are going to be seen,’ and that is powerful.” Filled with a new understanding of where his life could be headed, Bose bought a new camera and never looked back.

After taking a job in the Tri-Cities for a few years, Bose moved to Spokane in 2008 to take a job at The Spokesman-Review. But when the recession hit, layoffs sent him back to freelance work, teaching and eventually toward founding his own commercial photography company.

“That really connected me to Spokane in a short time. I was only at The Spokesman for eight months, but by the time I was out of that, I was already in a band and becoming part of the art scene in my own way.”

Bose launched into his photo work, taking on jobs left and right, never quite learning how to say no. “I’ve always had imposter syndrome – not feeling like I know things well enough – and because of that I really pursued way too many avenues,” he said.

So, after a few overwhelming years, he took time to think critically about the kind of photo work he could sustainably pursue on his own.

“I was a ‘why not’ guy,” he said. “That ‘I’ll do everything’ kind of photographer – but then I started realizing I needed to focus down on some core things.”

Today, Bose runs Factory Town with his wife and creative partner, local muralist Ellen Picken. Picken’s mural work can be seen under the Wall Street overpass. Together, they pursue client work as well as artistic projects like “Middlelife.”

At the end of the day, while documenting his life, recording other lives through photojournalism or helping others to do some form of the same, Bose knew that all he’d ever wanted to do was photography. Only now, he’s a little more willing to call himself an artist.

For more information, visit rajahvisuals.com/middlelife.