Allen Rokach has traveled the world since 1975 on photographic assignments that range from the bulb fields of Holland and the antiquities of Egypt to the vast Amazonian rain forest. An expert in location photography best known for his photographs of flowers, gardens and landscapes, Rokach's work has spanned everything from public relations and photojournalism to art and sculpture to travel and features about people. In the course of his career, he also served for fourteen years as the staff photographer and Director of Photography at the New York Botanical Garden and ten years as a Senior Photographer for Southern Living magazine.
Rokach's corporate commissions include PepsiCo, Edward Durell Stone Jr. & Associates (EDSA), Becton Dickinson, Cunard, Royal Cruise Lines, Air France, Netherlands Flower Bulb Information Center, Netherlands Board of Tourism, Chase Manhattan Bank, Bankers Trust, Mount Sinai Medical Center and Beth Israel Medical Center.
His editorial assignments include National Geographic, Audubon, Natural History, the New York Times, Southern Living, Better Homes & Gardens, Fine Gardening, Garden Design, Garden, Horticulture, Landscape Architecture, Coastal Living, Southern Accents, Parade, Outdoor Photographer, Camera 35, Popular Photography, Modern Photography, Pinnacle, Progressive Farmer, Sweet Tea Journal, Cooking Light, Science Digest, Diversion, among others. His photographs have appeared on the covers of many magazines, including Horticulture, Natural History, Fine Gardening, Garden, Modern Photography, Popular Photography and Southern Living. His photographs have also been used for calendars and note cards.
Rokach has been an active photographic educator throughout his career. He has taught at the New School for Social Research, the American Museum of Natural History, the International Center of Photography, the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops and several colleges. He initiated and coordinated the Certificate Program in Nature and Garden Photography at the New York Botanical Garden. He founded the Center for Nature Photography, which has run instructional photography workshops in Maine, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and other prime locations around the U.S.
He has lectured and led travel photography workshops to various locations in West Africa, Europe, India, East Asia, the Amazon, the Caribbean, Israel, Egypt and other parts of the Middle East for the American Museum of Natural History, the New School for Social Research, Art Safari, Cunard's Sea Goddess I and II, Sagafjord, Vistafjord, Norwegian Cruise Lines and Royal Cruise Lines.
With his wife, Anne Millman, Rokach co-authored eight books and numerous articles on photography, travel, nature and science. Focus on Flowers: Discovering & Photographing Beauty in Gardens & Wild Places, (Abbeville Press) won the 1991 Award of the Year for Photography from the Garden Writers Association of America. Focus on Travel: Creating Memorable Photographs of Journeys to New Places, (Abbeville Press) was translated into French. The six-book series called The Center for Nature Photography Field Guide to Photographing Flowers, Landscapes, Trees, Birds, Gardens and Seasons (Amphoto) was translated into Chinese. Rokach also provided the photographs for Gardens of the Heartland and A Three Year Garden Journal (Fulcrum Publishing).
Rokach's photographs have been exhibited in one-man shows in New York at the Brooklyn Museum, the New York Academy of Science, Nikon House, Wave Hill, the New York Botanical Garden, the Horticultural Society of New York and at institutions around the South. He also has been invited to judge local, national and international photographic competitions. His latest interest is in developing the creative potential of digital printing.
