Fotograf Magazine

Pavel: I read from your bio that you started as an actor and performer. You then gradually became involved in creative collaborations with theatres, music clubs and visual art centers. You eventually began to photograph and film the events that you were involved with and developed quite a unique multi-media career. What was the main reason for you to start with photography?”

Robert: I had a background with photography. When I was growing up in Chicago I came across a book by the photographer Diane Arbus and could not stop looking at her unique photo portraits. She was able to go into people’s lives and worlds and somehow capture it. She truly inspired me and I began taking photographs in Chicago. I started to take it more serious and I studied photography at Columbia University in Chicago. At the same time I was also studying acting in Chicago. I was always interested in going into the other worlds of people and I felt I could do this through acting and photography.I moved to New York to pursue an acting career. I studied at various acting schools and did a lot of Off-Broadway theatre. I went out to music clubs and met a lot of people with extremely strong personalities. I was attracted to them because of the way they expressed themselves with their creativity. I also liked how they dressed and behaved. I wanted to be a part of that world. Through this, I was led me to clubs where people were performing and expressing themselves in new special ways. I was swept away with this creative scene. I found that I could express myself the way that I wanted and discovered my own voice for my ideas.