Jack Robinson (photographer)
Encyclopedia
Jack Robinson, Jr. was an American
photographer and stained glass
designer
. Robinson was freelance photographer for Vogue
and The New York Times
from the 1950s to the early 1970s before he left New York to return home to the American South and pursue a career as a stained glass designer.
Mississippi, where Jack attended Clarksdale public school and graduated in 1946. In Clarkesdale Robinson is said to have been somewhat shy and reclusive, often choosing to stay at home and paint and draw rather than socialize with peers. It was during those years that he began to develop a talent for photography. In 1946 Robinson left Clarksdale to attend Tulane University
in New Orleans, initially planning to pursue a career in medicine.
It was in New Orleans that Robinson began his career in photography. Much of his early work was shot in the French Quarter
where he documented street scenes and vibrant nightlife. He frequented Dixie's Bar of Music, a Bourbon Street
club which was an epicenter of the New Orleans gay community in the 1950s and 1960s, and hangout of artists and writers such as Lyle Saxon
, Tennessee Williams
, Truman Capote
, and Gore Vidal
. During this period he refined his talent as a photographer, capturing portraits of notable figures of the southern Bohemia art and culture scene in New Orleans, and documenting the gay community's involvement in Mardi Gras.
In 1954 Robinson traveled to Mexico with Betty Parsons
, the famous New York art dealer, and photographed scenes of Mexican life. At Parsons' encouragement, he moved to New York in 1955 to pursue a career in fashion photography. He was quickly recognized as an emerging talent and was sought out by top designers in the fashion industry. In 1959 he shot his first major cover for a fashion special for Life Magazine. In the late 1950s he began free-lancing for The New York Times Magazine
under style editor Carrie Donovan
. His relationship with Donovan proved to be important for Robinson. When she left the magazine in 1965 to work for Vogue
, she brought Robinson with her.
At Vogue Robinson shot regularly for the running sections "Vogue's own Boutique," a monthly feature that utilized celebrities as models in various boutiques around New York, and "People are Talking About," a feature that profiled up and coming personalities in arts, entertainment, and politics. Additionally, he contributed photographs to many other Vogue articles. It was at Vogue that Robinson photographed many of his most famous subjects including Elton John
, Joni Mitchell
, Jack Nicholson
, and Cher
. Robinson remained at Vogue for the duration of his time in New York, amassing a large body of work between 1965 and 1973.
Robinson's career as a photographer was not however to continue past the early 1970s. In the late 1960s he began frequenting Andy Warhol's Factory in Manhattan and his lifestyle gradually shifted towards the excesses that were typical of the Factory
scene of the era. In the early 1970s he developed a serious drinking problem and his professional career and financial stability began to unravel as a result. By the end of 1972 Robinson's once steady flow of work had slowed to a trickle. Facing financial problems he left New York and moved south to Memphis
, Tennessee. His career as a professional photographer was over, and it was a part of his life that Robinson would seldom speak of in years to come. He became an intensely private person. For reasons not at all clear, he seemed determined to remain anonymous. He once confided in a friend that "he wanted a coffee table book
after he was dead, but he just didn't want any limelight while he was alive."
, quit drinking, and began working for a local stained glass studio. His primary work was in designing church windows, which can be seen today in churches across the American South. His most notable achievement in the stained glass field was winning the international competition for the design and fabrication of the stained glass windows in the Danny Thomas chapel at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
in Memphis.
magazine covered the show and printed a two-page spread that featured six photographs: one by Richard Avedon
, two by Irving Penn
, one by George Hoyningen-Huene
, one by Edward Steichen
, and one by Jack Robinson. Robinson's work was clearly regarded as among the best of his contemporaries. In 2007, New York fashion magazine MAO MAG published an article entitled "Who was Jack Robinson?" in which they profiled Robinson and his career. They wrote:
Today, Robinson is being recognized posthumously for his talent, and his work has been shown in galleries around the world including Staley-Wise Gallery in New York, Getty Gallery in London, and Bryant Gallery in New Orleans.
Fashion:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
photographer and stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
designer
Designer
A designer is a person who designs. More formally, a designer is an agent that "specifies the structural properties of a design object". In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, such as consumer products, processes, laws, games and graphics, is referred to as a...
. Robinson was freelance photographer for Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
and The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
from the 1950s to the early 1970s before he left New York to return home to the American South and pursue a career as a stained glass designer.
Photography career
Jack Robinson, Jr. was born in Meridian Mississippi on September 18, 1928 to Jack Robinson, Sr. and Euline Jones Robinson. The family soon moved to ClarksdaleClarksdale
Clarksdale may refer to some places in the United States:*Clarksdale, Illinois, unincorporated community in Christian County*Clarksdale, Indiana, unincorporated community in Brown County*Clarksdale, Mississippi, city in Coahoma County...
Mississippi, where Jack attended Clarksdale public school and graduated in 1946. In Clarkesdale Robinson is said to have been somewhat shy and reclusive, often choosing to stay at home and paint and draw rather than socialize with peers. It was during those years that he began to develop a talent for photography. In 1946 Robinson left Clarksdale to attend Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
in New Orleans, initially planning to pursue a career in medicine.
It was in New Orleans that Robinson began his career in photography. Much of his early work was shot in the French Quarter
French Quarter
The French Quarter, also known as Vieux Carré, is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. When New Orleans was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city was originally centered on the French Quarter, or the Vieux Carré as it was known then...
where he documented street scenes and vibrant nightlife. He frequented Dixie's Bar of Music, a Bourbon Street
Bourbon Street
Bourbon Street is a famous and historic street that spans the length of the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana. When founded in 1718, the city was originally centered around the French Quarter...
club which was an epicenter of the New Orleans gay community in the 1950s and 1960s, and hangout of artists and writers such as Lyle Saxon
Lyle Saxon
Lyle Saxon was a respected New Orleans writer, and journalist who reported for The Times-Picayune.-Life:He was born in Bellingham, Washington. He lived in the French Quarter; Sherwood Anderson, William Faulkner, Roark Bradford, and Edmund Wilson visited.He was an ardent student of the history of...
, Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
, Truman Capote
Truman Capote
Truman Streckfus Persons , known as Truman Capote , was an American author, many of whose short stories, novels, plays, and nonfiction are recognized literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's and the true crime novel In Cold Blood , which he labeled a "nonfiction novel." At...
, and Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal is an American author, playwright, essayist, screenwriter, and political activist. His third novel, The City and the Pillar , outraged mainstream critics as one of the first major American novels to feature unambiguous homosexuality...
. During this period he refined his talent as a photographer, capturing portraits of notable figures of the southern Bohemia art and culture scene in New Orleans, and documenting the gay community's involvement in Mardi Gras.
In 1954 Robinson traveled to Mexico with Betty Parsons
Betty Parsons
Betty Parsons, born Betty Bierne Pierson, was an American artist and art dealer known for her early promotion of Abstract Expressionism. She was known as "the den mother of Abstract Expressionism"...
, the famous New York art dealer, and photographed scenes of Mexican life. At Parsons' encouragement, he moved to New York in 1955 to pursue a career in fashion photography. He was quickly recognized as an emerging talent and was sought out by top designers in the fashion industry. In 1959 he shot his first major cover for a fashion special for Life Magazine. In the late 1950s he began free-lancing for The New York Times Magazine
The New York Times Magazine
The New York Times Magazine is a Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of The New York Times. It is host to feature articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors...
under style editor Carrie Donovan
Carrie Donovan
Carrie Donovan was fashion editor for Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and The New York Times Magazine. Later in her life she became known for her work in Old Navy commercials where she wore her trademark large eyeglasses and black clothing, often declaring the merchandise "Fabulous!"...
. His relationship with Donovan proved to be important for Robinson. When she left the magazine in 1965 to work for Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
, she brought Robinson with her.
At Vogue Robinson shot regularly for the running sections "Vogue's own Boutique," a monthly feature that utilized celebrities as models in various boutiques around New York, and "People are Talking About," a feature that profiled up and coming personalities in arts, entertainment, and politics. Additionally, he contributed photographs to many other Vogue articles. It was at Vogue that Robinson photographed many of his most famous subjects including Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
, Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
, Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
, and Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
. Robinson remained at Vogue for the duration of his time in New York, amassing a large body of work between 1965 and 1973.
Robinson's career as a photographer was not however to continue past the early 1970s. In the late 1960s he began frequenting Andy Warhol's Factory in Manhattan and his lifestyle gradually shifted towards the excesses that were typical of the Factory
The Factory
The Factory was Andy Warhol's original New York City studio from 1962 to 1968, although his later studios were known as The Factory as well. The Factory was located on the fifth floor at 231 East 47th Street, in Midtown Manhattan. The rent was "only about one hundred dollars a year"...
scene of the era. In the early 1970s he developed a serious drinking problem and his professional career and financial stability began to unravel as a result. By the end of 1972 Robinson's once steady flow of work had slowed to a trickle. Facing financial problems he left New York and moved south to Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, Tennessee. His career as a professional photographer was over, and it was a part of his life that Robinson would seldom speak of in years to come. He became an intensely private person. For reasons not at all clear, he seemed determined to remain anonymous. He once confided in a friend that "he wanted a coffee table book
Coffee table book
A coffee table book is a hardcover book that is intended to sit on a coffee table or similar surface in an area where guests sit and are entertained, thus inspiring conversation or alleviating boredom. They tend to be oversized and of heavy construction, since there is no pressing need for...
after he was dead, but he just didn't want any limelight while he was alive."
Stained Glass Career
Back in Memphis Robinson pulled his life back together. He joined Alcoholics AnonymousAlcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous is an international mutual aid movement which says its "primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety." Now claiming more than 2 million members, AA was founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Akron, Ohio...
, quit drinking, and began working for a local stained glass studio. His primary work was in designing church windows, which can be seen today in churches across the American South. His most notable achievement in the stained glass field was winning the international competition for the design and fabrication of the stained glass windows in the Danny Thomas chapel at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, founded in 1962, is a leading pediatric treatment and research facility focused on children's catastrophic diseases. It is located in Memphis, Tennessee. It is a nonprofit medical corporation chartered as a 501 tax-exempt organization under IRS regulations.In...
in Memphis.
Legacy
By the early 1970s Jack had established himself as one of the leading fashion and portrait photographers in the world. In 1974, Vogue unveiled a retrospective of "50 Years of Women in Vogue". NewsweekNewsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
magazine covered the show and printed a two-page spread that featured six photographs: one by Richard Avedon
Richard Avedon
Richard Avedon was an American photographer. An obituary published in The New York Times said that "his fashion and portrait photographs helped define America's image of style, beauty and culture for the last half-century."-Photography career:Avedon was born in New York City to a Jewish Russian...
, two by Irving Penn
Irving Penn
Irving Penn was an American photographer known for his portraiture and fashion photography.-Early career:Irving Penn studied under Alexey Brodovitch at the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art from which he was graduated in 1938. Penn's drawings were published by Harper's Bazaar and he...
, one by George Hoyningen-Huene
George Hoyningen-Huene
Baron George Hoyningen-Huene was a seminal fashion photographer of the 1920s and 1930s. He was born in Russia to Baltic German and American parents and spent his working life in France, England and the United States.-Europe:...
, one by Edward Steichen
Edward Steichen
Edward J. Steichen was an American photographer, painter, and art gallery and museum curator. He was the most frequently featured photographer in Alfred Stieglitz' groundbreaking magazine Camera Work during its run from 1903 to 1917. Steichen also contributed the logo design and a custom typeface...
, and one by Jack Robinson. Robinson's work was clearly regarded as among the best of his contemporaries. In 2007, New York fashion magazine MAO MAG published an article entitled "Who was Jack Robinson?" in which they profiled Robinson and his career. They wrote:
In his 17 year career, Jack Robinson was one of the editorial world's most accomplished photographers (in fact, one of Diana VreelandDiana VreelandDiana Vreeland was a noted columnist and editor in the field of fashion. She worked for the fashion magazines Harper's Bazaar and Vogue and the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.Born as Diana Dalziel, Vreeland was the eldest daughter of American socialite mother Emily Key Hoffman...
's favorites) and had exclusive access to film actors, music stars, fashion designers, artists, sports figures, politicians, and socialites via his assignments for Vogue, The New York Times, and Life but his self exile from New York in 1973 and his determination never to talk about his prolific past continues to shroud his career in mystery.
Today, Robinson is being recognized posthumously for his talent, and his work has been shown in galleries around the world including Staley-Wise Gallery in New York, Getty Gallery in London, and Bryant Gallery in New Orleans.
Notable Photographs
Celebrity:- Joni MitchellJoni MitchellJoni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
in Peasant Dress with Guitar, 1968 - Jack NicholsonJack NicholsonJohn Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
, Clasped Fingers, 1970 - James TaylorJames TaylorJames Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
, Outstretched Arm, 1969 - The WhoThe WhoThe Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
, Jump, 1969 - Elton JohnElton JohnSir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
, at the Piano, 1970 - Gloria VanderbiltGloria VanderbiltGloria Laura Vanderbilt is an American artist, author, actress, heiress, and socialite most noted as an early developer of designer blue jeans...
and Family at Home, 1972 - CherCherCher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
in Fur at the Walforf, 1970 - Andy WarholAndy WarholAndrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
and Gerard MalangaGerard MalangaGerard Joseph Malanga is an American poet, photographer, filmmaker, curator and archivist.-Early life:Born in the Bronx, New York, Malanga graduated from the School of Industrial Art in Manhattan and attended Wagner College on Staten Island...
with Movie Camera, 1965 - Everly Brothers First Album Cover, 1958
Fashion:
- Suzy ParkerSuzy ParkerSuzy Parker was an American model and actress active from 1947 into the early 1960s. Her modeling career reached its zenith during the 1950s when she appeared on the cover of dozens of magazines, advertisements, and in movie and television roles.She appeared in several Revlon advertisements, but...
in White Fur, 1959 - Anne St. Marie in Elizabeth ArdenElizabeth ArdenFlorence Nightingale Graham , who went by the business name Elizabeth Arden, was a Canadian-American businesswoman who built a cosmetics empire in the United States. At the peak of her career, she was one of the wealthiest women in the world.-Biography:Arden was born in 1884 at Woodbridge, Ontario,...
Gown, 1959 - Wilhelmina in Choker for Life Magazine, 1959
- Emilio PucciEmilio PucciEmilio Pucci, Marquis of Barsento , was a Florentine Italian fashion designer and politician. He and his eponymous company are synonymous with geometric prints in a kaleidoscope of colours.-Early life:...
, Scaffold with Models, 1960 - Lauren HuttonLauren HuttonLauren Hutton is an American model and actress. She is best-known for her starring roles in the movies American Gigolo and Lassiter, and also for her fashion modeling career.-Personal life:...
in Studio, 1972 - Berry BerensonBerry BerensonBerinthia "Berry" Berenson Perkins was an American photographer, actress, and model. Perkins was also known as the wife of actor Anthony Perkins and died in the September 11 attacks as a passenger on American Airlines Flight 11.-Early life and family:Berinthia Berenson was the younger daughter of...
for Charlie Perfume Campaign, 1972
External links
- Jack Robinson Archive. http://www.robinsonarchive.com/
- MAO Mag http://www.maomag.com/
- Staley-Wise Gallery http://www.staleywise.com/
- Getty Gallery http://www.gettyimagesgallery.com
- Bryant Gallery http://www.bryantgalleries.com/