Unless otherwise noted, all photographs © by Robert Whitman

Robert Whitman © Robert Schaefer

Recently, Jay Tanen, whom I interviewed last year, introduced me to photographer Robert Whitman for whom Duggal is printing large images to be used in his upcoming exhibition at the Chelsea Market in New York City.  I was not familiar with Whitman’s work, which has been to a large extent in the areas of fashion and advertising in New York and Paris. 

However, upon visiting his website, I was presented with much more than these two areas, and in speaking with him, became fascinated with his many journeys and the images they have provided.



Robert Schaefer: Did your background provide any incentive for your photography? How did it evolve?
 
Robert Whitman: Born and raised in Minneapolis, MN, I was introduced to photography by my father who loved taking pictures.  At age eighteen I became a hippie and wanted a profession that would allow me flexible working hours, no dress code and my long hair and beard.


RS: Did you study photography at college?  What brought you into it?

Freckled Face Girl, Cuba

RW: Actually, I studied Theatre and during my studies, started traveling abroad and changed my major to International Relations, so I ended up getting a B.A. in that course of study from the University of Minnesota. However, I saw the film "Blow Up" by Antonioni and thought to myself that this lifestyle was what I wanted.  So, I went to Brooks Photography School in San Diego, California, but I hated it and returned to Minneapolis after a month.  My girlfriend at that time was a model in Minnesota, and she was with a modeling agency that needed photographs of their models.  I quickly learned about lighting, and the creative director of the agency loved the images I took. He put me in touch with a department store for which I began doing advertising for national magazines.  Then I decided I needed to know more about equipment and checked out a local camera store where a guy named Ed gave me some great advice about equipment and technique. Within three, maybe four months, I was one of the main photographers of Daytons (department store), which was later bought by Marshall Fields and then by Macy's.  Each shoot taught me more about lighting and photography in general; I was an avid reader of the Time/Life Photography Book Series and rose through the ranks to become one of the top photographers in Minneapolis.


RS: What was your next career move?

RW: In the early 1980s, I moved to Paris, France and worked there as a photographer for a year shooting for such fashion magazines as Votre and Beauté.


RS: How long did you live in Paris?  Were you ever homesick?

RW: Actually, I only lived there for a year.  I missed my studio in Minneapolis and wanted to get back.  Although I returned to Paris years later on several occasions, it was only for a short period of time.  In 1983 I moved to New York City.


RS: Was there a specific reason as to why you selected New York?

RW: It was and still is one of the world capitals of photography, and I had some magazine leads and agency connections.  I worked for Spiegel as well as J.C. Penneys for about five years.  I made money but never developed a style or put together a portfolio.  When these catalogs ran out of work for me, I really didn’t have a “book” with which to procure additional work.


RS: So, what did you do to get out of this situation?  

RW: A school friend of mine knew Donna Karan, and this led to my getting an interview with the art director of W Magazine.  Unfortunately, he told me that my work was terrible and not something his magazine could use at all.

Ipanema Beach, Brazil

RS: Wow, nothing like honesty.  What was your next move?

RW: This was a low ebb for me, and I almost quit.  Instead I took some time off from my Manhattan studio at 1181 Broadway (at 28th Street) and went to Miami, Florida to photograph a model friend of mine.  Around this time, my dad sent me an article, which had been in Popular Photography and was an offer by the Time/Life Lab to print a deserving photographer’s work.  I applied, and they printed the whole group of images from my shoot in Miami.  Also, Men’s Health was being redesigned by its creative director Joe Heroun, who had heard about my work and asked to see my portfolio.  I submitted the images, which the Time/Life Lab had printed for me and got the job.  It led to an ad campaign for Dewers in the early 1990s.  I would say that this work which ended up being around fifty ads was my real opening to lifestyle advertising in New York.


RS: Who are some photographers who have inspired your photography?

RW: I love William Klein, Robert Frank, Jacques-Henri Lartigue, Guy Bourdin, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Man Ray, Paul Himmel and of course, Irving Penn.


RS: What advice would you give a person interested in going into commercial photography?

Moscow, Russia

RW: Take pictures that inspire you.  Be willing to explore and shoot, shoot shoot!  Don’t be influenced by the style of current trends; find your own particular direction and style.  Show your work and let it be criticized—that is how you grow.  And by all means, check out photography books and magazines so that you know about the world of photography and what is happening in it.


RS: Some of your images were taken in Punta del Este in Uruguay.  This is a rather unique location; how did you happen to select it?  

RW: I was doing some work for Departures Magazine, which is owned by American Express and was sent there in January of 2005 to shoot a story for them.  There, I met great people and got some great images.  I have returned a few times on my own because I like it so much.


RS: What are some other interesting locations in which you’ve photographed?

RW: Once I visited a friend in Moscow, Russia and was intrigued with it as a city.  Later Departures sent me there to shoot a story about steam baths.  I also was able get permission to shoot in Cuba, which offers some incredibly interesting imagery.

Plobolus Exhibit Banner

RS: You have made your living with commercial photography.  At this point, do you consider your imagery to be more in the direction of fine art?

RW: Certainly, most of my work would be considered commercial.  As to whether some of it enters the realm of fine art, I’m not actually sure.  I just love to document experiences, which mean a lot to me, and if people perceive of this as fine art, then I’m very happy about that.


RS: Your current exhibition “Pilobolus Israel” is at the Chelsea Market (at 75 Ninth Avenue between 15th and 16th Streets) from September 18th to October 31st. How did you come to work with this very talented dance group?

RW: They were going to Israel, and I was asked to go along and document their time there.  I must say they made it very easy because we would get to an area, and they would just automatically get into strange locations and contort themselves into interesting shapes.


RS: What does the future hold for your own work?
 
RW: I am currently going back into all of my old imagery and putting together work.  For example, I have a lot of images of the legs of my former wife, who is a well-known dancer, and I call that body of work “gams.”  Also,
I am interested in shooting more dance related imagery.  I love to travel the world and pick out themes.


More of Robert’s work can be seen at: http://www.robertwhitman.com

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Robert A. Schaefer, Jr. is a founding member of Photoworkshop.com, and has been a photographer for over 30 years. His work is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York as well as the Bibliothéque Nationale in Paris, France.  Most recently he had a one-person exhibition (November 10, 2007 to January 8, 2008) at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts in Montgomery, Alabama. This work is a body of documentary images of a farmer in North Alabama where Schaefer grew up. He writes about photography for Double Exposure and The Photo Review in Pennsylvania.  He teaches photography in the Department of Continuing and Professional Studies at New York University. His work is represented by the Domeischel Gallery, Ltd. in New York City and the DeFrog Gallery in Houston,Texas.
 
Robert can be contacted at rasjrpro@earthlink.net  and www.schaeferphoto.com

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