about
BIO
New England, born and raised. Though I have lived in California for all of my adult life, you cannot take the New Englander out of me. It follows me. I’m determinedly independent, critically frugal, I don’t take myself too seriously and yes, sarcasm slides in as an icebreaker.
Photography entered my life at RISD, an extra course while I was at Brown studying Psychology and Comparative Literature with French. The photography courses at the Rhode Island School of Design reinvigorated my artistic side that STEM classes had hidden for a decade. And though I worked on locked psychiatric wards while in college, it was the time in the darkroom that spoke to me. I became passionate about the medium, but my academic background stayed with me – psychology taught me to connect with people, to notice things they do or say, and to find a way put them at ease. And, Comparative Literature? It’s all about stories – a multi-disciplinary look at a theme. Decades of images later, I tell stories about people.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Telling stories, I tell make images that are genuine, that show a connection, that resonate.
Health & wellness – I am as comfortable spending a day with a rare disease patient as I am playing with a runner on a wooded trail. For both I start with the person; a lifestyle image to me begins as a portrait.
While I work for advertising clients, personal projects are an important part of the studio’s emphasis. Constantly shooting – it’s both exercise and learning to me – be it breaking down fitness movement with an examination of dance, or creating medical related exhibits for the nonprofit I founded. With Facing Light, our first project, Facing Chemo, has traveled to galleries spaces around the US and Europe, and it has been featured in publications on six continents. We recently completed a project called Seeing Blindness and are currently photographing athletes who are amputees.
ETC
What else? I live on a ranch and my studio, in the barn, is a certified green business and is covered with solar panels. As an urban farmer, I tend to two bee hives, three goats, eight chickens, a pond full of koi, two golden retrievers, and a field of vegetables. With the twenty-somethings mostly out of the house these days, I'm am usually alternating between my Kubota tractor or my location Sprinter van.
CONTACT
studio 415 252 7818
bob@roberthouser.com
AWARDS
One Eyeland: World's Top 10 Black & White Photographers 2021, 2020, 2019
APA National Awards 2019 Gold [Sport]
One Eyeland: Awards 2019, 2018, 2017, 2014
One Eyeland: World's Black & White Photographers 2019 [Sport]
One Eyeland: World's Fine Art Photographers 2019 - 5 images
International Color Awards 2021, 2020, 2019
Black and White Spider Awards 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018
IPA Awards 2018, 2015, 2014
One Eyeland Best of the Best Photographers 2021, 2020, 2017, 2014
APA Something Personal show 2018, 2016, 2014
Communication Arts Photography Annual 2011, 1998
Folio Ozzie
Davey Award for Annual Reports
BOOKS
Fatherhood (2008) Introduction by Gloria Steinem
Facing Chemo (2013)
bio for advertising and editorial photogarpher robert houser