Beth Rooney is a Nebraska-born, Chicago-raised, and currently Chicago-based visual-journalist. As a writer and photographer, she is drawn to stories that explore our place in the world and how individual circumstances add up to reflect larger truths. She is passionate about photography, writing, food, culture, and immersive travel. 

Rooney strives to capture sincere and open moments with her photography: subtle sadnesses, swift gestures, pure joys—the small episodes that come together to form an emotional and physical map of our surroundings. She is drawn to long-term projects because they allow for an extended study of a subject. She can return to the same people time after time to follow the thread that connects us, and then see what those connections mean in the wider context of a given culture. She is drawn to quiet, seemingly ordinary situations that at first seem strange, but then seem strangely familiar and yet also extraordinary.

A graduate of Ohio University, she interned with Lauren Greenfield, attended the Eddie Adams Workshop, and has experience with international assignments. She photographed a cookbook, The Chicago Chef's Table, and was a featured photographer in the book Lens on Life. Her past and current clients include: Morning Calm, The Chicago Tribune, Wire, The Atlantic, The New York Times, Saveur, Der Spiegel, Chicago Public Radio, Stern, FADER, Time, Abbvie, American Ways, Virtuoso, Illinois Tourism Board, and University of Chicago. 

Rooney’s ultimate goal is to tell stories with a strong, holistic narrative and a vibrant, thoughtful aesthetic. 

She is available for assignments in Chicago or anywhere else in the world.