Rebecca Rothey studied photography under Geoff Delanoy while working towards her undergraduate degree in philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, Maryland. She was an adult, part-time student and photography allowed her a much needed creative respite from the pressures of work and school. She learned photography by developing film and making gelatin silver prints using traditional darkroom techniques. 

She has continued making images since her graduation in 2007, now working solely with digitally captured and processed images. Her images are inspired by traditional French and American street photography as well as by other mid-20th Century photographers and genres. Attending Peter Turnley’s Paris Street Photography workshop in 2006 and several Vision Quest workshops with Doug Beasley also influenced her image making approach.