Having honed his craft as a student of the ‘film era’, a young Rob found himself exhibited in the National Gallery of Victoria (Australia) with a shot from only his third roll of film.

“At art school, my mentor, John Cato, explained that there are two kinds of photographers – there are ‘takers’ and there are ‘makers’. Takers are your photojournalists, documentary and reportage photographers, whereas your makers are the ones that make a photograph from scratch say by building a set or finding the perfect location. It starts with a conceptual idea and build it into something. I immediately recognised what I was. I was a maker.

I’ve always loved the magician’s trick where you’re at a magic show and there is a woman floating. The magician is putting a ring around her to prove she is actually floating. You know in your head there are strings attached but you still feel as though she is really floating. I strive to bring that trick into my photography – to give it gravity. Even if it’s something that’s totally surreal, it creates a sense realness.”

Robert took his ‘magic tricks’ into the commercial space where he became known and sought after around the world for his artistic approach to the works he was commissioned to produced. Feeling the pull to once again tell his own stories Robert decided, in 2016, to also return to his natural home of Fine Art.