He studied at the University of Street Andrews and was a protégé of Doctor John Adamson who also persuaded him to become a photographer. At age 14, he was apprenticed to Doctor James, a local chemist and druggist, whilst studying at Madras College.
Adamson persuaded him to assist Lord Kinnaird in his calotype studio at Rossie Priory. Rodger enrolled at the Andersonian College of Glasgow to study medicine, but Adamson persuaded him to set up a professional business in calotyping in Street Andrews. In 1853 he was awarded the Aberdeen Mechanics" Institution Meda
When the Photographic Society of Scotland was established in 1856, Rodger was one of its original members.
Rodger"s photographs can mainly be found in the Street Andrews University Library and museum. He was also the author of the best known portrait of his master John Adamson in around 1865.
Rodger himself was a protégé of Ivan Szabo (1822–1858) in the 1850s, who later opened his own studio in Edinburgh. There is a blue plaque in his honour in Street Andrews outside his house and studio (now the University Careers Centre).
lieutenant says "The first professional photographer in Saint Andrews, he was taught the calotype process by Doctor John Adamson, who induced him to make it his life"s work.
His pictorial record of the town, its people, the fisher folk and eminent visitors, brought him great fame. His favour with visiting royalty gave him journeys to London on Royal Photographic missions. He built this house and in it the first photographic studio in the town.
Brewster, the Adamsons and Rodger made Saint Andrews a world centre of photography.".
