Herb Robinson
Audio
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Herb Robinson, Faces, 1969
Herb Robinson, Faces, 1969
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Herb Robinson: Embedded in that photograph is my nose and my mouth and my eyes. Now that, I shot in the mirror where it was a self-portrait.
Narrator: Robinson’s day job was in advertising. This photograph is a work of art, but he produced it by adapting the tools that he used for his commercial work.
Herb Robinson: Then what I did is I printed that image, in my dark room, and then put that on top of a glass pane, and it became a shelf because I'm shooting, like I used to shoot a lot of jewelry with a view camera, straight down. Then using mylar materials because still-lifers, they use every material under the sun: fabric, prisms, every type of material and texture you can name as part of the craft of producing work. Here I’m constructing what I wanted to say.
It’s meant not to be so obvious. You have to look, but you’ll see it. I am a strong Black man, and father. So here again is a statement of our culture, our people, using me as a subject.
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Herb Robinson, Miles Davis at the Vanguard, 1961
Herb Robinson, Miles Davis at the Vanguard, 1961
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Herb Robinson: I snuck in, and Miles was just coming off the bandstand.
Narrator: Herb Robinson describes his encounter with Miles Davis at the Village Vanguard.
Herb Robinson: Miles was just leaving the bandstand and on the way back to the kitchen or kitchenette. And I followed him, so I was right on his heels, practically. This is all instinct, you know, even though it was 1961, even then I was intimidated because Miles was a giant, but also Miles was a boxer. So here I’m a kid shadowing him.
There was one light in the hallway and there was no shade on the bulb. And Miles turned, you know, felt somebody literally on his heels, he turned and as he turned then—instinct, I didn’t set it up. It was improvisational where I clicked the shutter.
Narrator: The photograph abstracts Davis, capturing a feeling of the musician rather than replicating his features. For Robinson, this distinction is important—part of why the image is art, and not journalism. He took the picture before joining Kamoinge. He’s said it’s one of the photographs that led to his acceptance into the group, which had dauntingly high standards for membership.
