Robin Schwartz

Monographs & Limited Edition Primate Book + Photo

Animals are my passion and this obsession fuels my work. I photograph animals where they share our lives, in urban environments and inside people’s home. I discovered that in some ways, animals adapt to our way of life, our culture. Animals constantly watch humans, and want to please and “fit in,” be part of our pack. When given the opportunity, animals appropriate the culture they live with, as our habit of sitting on furniture. I believe they sit on furniture not only to be more comfortable, but also to be like us. I try to reflect this in my portraits. I reject the anthroporphization viewpoint; we are the same in many ways.My photographic approach to animal subjects is the same as photographing a person. I try to develop a dialogue with my subjects, whatever their species. My goal while photographing is to show each subject as a unique individual. Eye contact is an important factor in my portraits, representing my subjects’ conscious response to me and our encounter. Although I was able to photograph many species, what you see is not a nature survey but a fictional world of primates. I sought moments and edited for photographs that do not represent the everyday world of primates in captivity. It is not my intention to encourage primate pet ownership, but to show a side of its' existence, to present each primate as a unique individual, and to share my photographic fantasies. The majority of apes and monkeys here are privately cared for, which contributes to the diversity of relationships, environments, and personal possessions seen in the photographs. I also had access to a few zoos, circuses, and other organizations throughout the USA. Meeting these primates, owners, anthropologists and keeper has been remarkable.

Amelia's World, 2008

edited by Tim Barber, tinyvices.com

The Aperture Foundation -October Release

Aperture Blog

(book & Print Preview Party - I am the hairy one)

book already listed on Amazon.com

Like Us: Primate Portraits, 1993

W.W. Norton & Company, NYC

Offered for the first time, what is left of a limited edition of 200 Like Us books. A sleeved black linen book with a 5x7 archival photo,

numbered and signed

robin_schwartz@mac.com

Dog Watching, 1995

Takarajima Books, NYC & Tokyo

Primate Statement

Animals are my passion and this obsession fuels my work. I photograph animals where they share our lives, in urban environments and inside people’s home. I discovered that in some ways, animals adapt to our way of life, our culture. Animals constantly watch humans, and want to please and “fit in,” be part of our pack. When given the opportunity, animals appropriate the culture they live with, as our habit of sitting on furniture. I believe they sit on furniture not only to be more comfortable, but also to be like us. I try to reflect this in my portraits. I reject the anthroporphization viewpoint; we are the same in many ways.

My photographic approach to animal subjects is the same as photographing a person. I try to develop a dialogue with my subjects, whatever their species. My goal while photographing is to show each subject as a unique individual. Eye contact is an important factor in my portraits, representing my subjects’ conscious response to me and our encounter.

Although I was able to photograph many species, what you see is not a nature survey but a fictional world of primates. I sought moments and edited for photographs that do not represent the everyday world of primates in captivity. It is not my intention to encourage primate pet ownership, but to show a side of its' existence, to present each primate as a unique individual, and to share my photographic fantasies. The majority of apes and monkeys here are privately cared for, which contributes to the diversity of relationships, environments, and personal possessions seen in the photographs. I also had access to a few zoos, circuses, and other organizations throughout the USA. Meeting these primates, owners, anthropologists and keeper has been remarkable.

Dog Watching Preface

Animals are the passion and obsession that fuel my imagination. The boundary line separating people and animals has always been blurred for me, and perhaps because of that, I try to develop a dialogue with my subjects, whatever their species. My goal while photographing is to show each animal as a unique individual. Eye contact is an important factor in the portraits, representing my subjects' conscious response to me and our encounter. Photography records these memories.

My relationship to "picturing animals" dates all the way back to childhood, when I brought home stray wanders and believed the animal illustrations I saw in books came to life. At age ten, I began photographing my cat-brother Whitey, dressed in doll clothes. Later, in graduate school in Brooklyn, I found comfort and a spiritual connection in photographing the stray dogs that roamed the streets of New York and New Jersey. On my own and feeling lost, I often had the uncanny feeling, when I looked into the eyes of these abandoned creatures, that I was seeing myself. Since that time, I have continued to photograph animals, concentrating on dogs and primates in various urban and rural settings and inside private homes. I believe that animals such as dogs, kept most often as pets, offer us a unique glimpse into the heart of the human culture that surrounds them. The relationship of dog and owner cuts across class-structure, and reveals a lot about the culture's models of kinship, and of myth. On a less exalted level, I simply love dogs. I have found great humanity, love, respect, adventure and comfort in their company. As I hope Dog Watching shows.

Technical Information

The Leica equipment usedfor the exhibiton and book were three camera bodies, an M4-2, M-6 and an M5. two lenses were used a summicron 35mm and an elmarit 28mm, I used the 35mm almost exclusively. Currenly I owned the M-5 and and M-4-P and the two lenses. I use Kodak Tri-x 400 iso film exclusively, rated at 200 iso and developed accordingly. The flash is a Vivitar 283 and 285 powered by a Quantum Turbo power pack. The enlarger used is a Leitz Ic with a Focatar