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OR
As I have previously
stated countless times, the internet is just this phenomenon that has literally
changed my life. Meeting Robin Broadbent took a far more circuitous route than
most due to how exactly we found each other. Before I ever knew of him by name, I was in love
with his work; it positively fascinated me, it intrigued me and it was somewhat
reminiscent of Penn’s still life work as well as that of Mocafico.
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With that
said, his latest book (The Photographic Work of Robin Broadbent) arrived at my door for reviewing
purposes for The New York Journal of
Books (www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/robin-broadbent) and then
suddenly I was enamored with the man and his oeuvre. Before even reading the
book I did some “googling” and the more I read, the more I saw, the deeper I
was drawn into his sway. He unique vision has been utilized and recognized by
some of the most notable and prestigious international brands such as Cartier,
Bottega Veneta, Rolex, Prada and Dior Haute Joallier… and that’s just a sampling
of his commercial side.
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His fascination
with what we might see as everyday objects/sights is something that transforms
the common into the extremely uncommon by turning them into works of art; it is
a sort of hyper-realism or reality on steroids. It’s enormously gratifying to
me that we have a friendship these days and even more so that I am able to
comprehend his mindset! Personally I am a fan of more is better and yet Robin’s
Spartan “M.O.” of less is more is overwhelming in its content while his skill
and his vision are without equal.
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Unquestionably
I urge you to research for yourself and to venture into this man’s world and see
how he just does what he does. He is a stand-alone artist especially in these
days of me too advertising when most
ads are interchangeable and me too fashion photography when anyone who
has ever held a camera thinks they are a photographer…. Unequivocally I can say THEY ARE NOT and Robin
Broadbent shows us why!
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Jeffrey Felner: Can you offer a bit
of background as to how you “arrived” at your present state professionally?
Robin Broadbent: Through a lot of hard work, thinking
and passion!
My plan was
to become a doctor and ideally a surgeon. Sadly, that didn’t happen but I
discovered a love of photography in a very amateur way. I was given a camera as
a gift for my 18th birthday. I studied no fine art, painting or
drawing while at school but headed off to a local art school on the whim of
wanting to be a photographer. I had no idea what I was doing but I thought
photography could be a good choice for me. I was inspired and intrigued by the
still life advertising especially by some cigarette campaigns for Benson and Hedges and Silk Cut in the UK; they
were surreal and had strong graphic forms. While they didn’t make me want to
smoke but with a photographer’s eye they seemed intriguing and of great
interest …. again … I had no idea what I was doing but as luck would have it I
got my first job working/assisting an American photographer , Robert Golden, who was a primo still life/studio
photographer.
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After
leaving art school, I had learned to take pictures in a studio but I had little
knowledge of art or painting or the history of photography; the school seemed
to be more concerned about how a photographer could make a living, as opposed to the rich history of art and photography. Robert Golden was fantastic, he felt his role was to be a mentor and encouraged me to learn and advance in the world of photography. Obviously his plan worked because I had huge respect for him and
that pressed me to work incredibly hard under his watchful eye. He introduced me to painters, art, and
photographers. With a combination of his in-depth critiques and his
encouragement I learned huge amounts about how to see, how to light, and how to
make images. Obviously by this time I had begun my journey to where I am today.
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After my
“assistanceship”/apprenticeship was over, his mentoring and support continued
as I evolved with my own studio doing still life photography. I worked in London
for approximately ten years where I was shooting some major campaigns and
magazine work while constantly evolving and learning with a more matured eye. I
realized I was leaning more and more towards abstraction; shapes and forms as
much as possible where you get a sense of volume and structure in the objects. Lighting
and understanding how light and the quality of light could create and define
objects in a picture also became a major focus for me.
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By 1999, I
was feeling frustrated with the still life world in London and was truly
questioning my future as a photographer. I desperately wanted to carry on
shooting with an 8x10 camera in a studio and to be given time to light and
sculpt objects/products. Also the US has a history of great photography and photographers from the 1920's (something I became passionate about when Robert Golden introduced me to the early American photographers). At this stage, I had been following the work and art direction of Fabien
Baron in the U.S. I particularly enjoyed
the still life/beauty stories shot by Raymond Meier in Harpers Bazaar. . At that time, W magazine
was also very inspiring. And of course one couldn’t ignore the amazing Clinique
ads being shot by Irving Penn. Penn was also shooting every month for American Vogue and producing incredible images.
Once I was
able to mesh all of the above, I knew that I wanted to explore the possibility
of shooting fashion accessories as well as beauty products in as much as they
became my building blocks and shapes that I could play with and arrange in
abstract forms. They also tended to be made from interesting materials and
surfaces, all of which were exciting to light and play with. Armed with these
new insights I came to New York to explore and meet people and by the end of
1999, armed with an agent and all the necessary paperwork in order, I became a
New Yorker. Since residing here, I’ve continued to obsess over lighting, detail
and composition trying to move forward in the way I see image making. I’ve
always and continue to do a lot of editorial work for mostly European-based
magazines who provide the opportunity to be much freer in the creative process.
I’ve always done a lot of black and white work, including two books published
in the UK just before I left. With printing and working in black and white, I
have learned so much about how one sees the picture including such things as
contrast and density and cropping. I also still shoot regularly in black and
white for my own personal projects and still entirely on film.
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JF: If you could invite any 5 people to dinner who would they be and why?
RB: David Bowie:
simply the most inspiring man in my artistic life plus he seemed like a good
guy, and a good conversationalist.
Lazlo Maholy-Nagy: the Bauhaus was always the
beginning of my inspiration as a photographer. His photography forced people to
see things/photography in a different way
Robert Motherwell: Definitely a favorite painter from
my favorite era. If I could travel in time, I would go back to Soho and hang
out with all the abstract expressionists and artists of that era. If I had the
talent, I would love to be a painter.
Brigitte Bardot: She was an inspiring actress working in France doing interesting films with great directors plus she seems to have a lot of personality…plus she looks good!
Vivienne Westwood: She and her fashion defined a groundbreaking era in London and the world. Again, as I missed the sixties/seventies in with the artists of that time, the punk era is when fashion and everything changed in London, it is another time I would have liked to have been present and have experienced.
Brigitte Bardot: She was an inspiring actress working in France doing interesting films with great directors plus she seems to have a lot of personality…plus she looks good!
Vivienne Westwood: She and her fashion defined a groundbreaking era in London and the world. Again, as I missed the sixties/seventies in with the artists of that time, the punk era is when fashion and everything changed in London, it is another time I would have liked to have been present and have experienced.
Other
thoughts – In choosing individuals, would they all get along with each other?!
I could also invite Donald Judd, Keith Richards and Sofia Coppola.
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JF: Let’s talk about the book, The Photographic
Work of Robin Broadbent. Can you tell us what prompted you to do it and
what would you say was the most gratifying part and what was the most
challenging part of taking on this project
RB: This
is my third book; the first two, as I mentioned, were done back in 1999/2000.
They were both black and white books … Minus
Sixteen and Marmalade. They were
strong in contrast and abstract architectural forms.
In this new book, I wanted to do a larger color book. As said previously, I enjoy line, form and
abstraction with the intention of continuously reducing what is in the image.
This is very much the kind of work I’ve been shooting editorially in my recent
years in New York. It also contains some test editorial ideas which were never
published. Books are my real passion; I enjoy the pagination, the not knowing
what is coming next, how the sequel works and the surprise of turning to the
next page.
I was very lucky in being able to work with Doug Lloyd as a
designer on this project; a great designer who was familiar with my thoughts
and aesthetics.
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The most challenging part was producing a final edit to work
and the decision process of what makes the cut and what doesn’t. For me the
overall look and feel and weight of a book is very important. This is something
I worked very hard to achieve with different coatings, different paper and dust
jackets. For me, it was important that the reader didn’t get bored while
turning the pages; each image had to look fresher and more exciting than the
previous image.
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The most satisfying part is that a year after being on press
printing it, I still like the book and it achieved my original objective.
Obviously there are things I would change about it in hindsight, but I’m still
pretty happy about it.
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JF: If you could choose any
collaborator or collaboration, who or what would it be and why? Also print or
internet ... which and why?
RB: Alexander McQueen, fashion designer; Lee was truly
original and exciting as a designer. All of the accessories (Shaune Leanne) he
made were sculptural, exciting, interesting and beautiful. It would’ve been a
true pleasure to work alongside McQueen as a photographer trying to define and photograph
accessories with his viewpoint about how to photograph them as he enjoyed
shape, form, material and texture…. All of which excite me!
John Pawson,
architect: I have a love of the simple, minimal approach to materials, shape
and for; in fact the less the better for me. It would be great to so a study of
form and shape based around his materials and architecture. No one does it
better than Pawson and he’s a keen photographer who also understands the skill.
All would be
in print; I like real objects and be able to pick up something and hold it as a
real piece…. In short tangible objects!
Wren London … one man show "Reduction, Reduction-Photographs by Robin Boradbent"
Press
Preview: 2nd May, 6PM - 9PM // Invite only enquiries@wren.london
Wren
London, 39 Featherstone Street, London, EC1Y 8RE
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