Solo Exhibitions
2011 Robert Charles Mann, Les Curieuses, David Gaillard curator, Paris France
2009 Robert Mann, Galerie Basia Embiricos, Ku Khahn curator, Paris, France
2006 Robert Mann, Ritual Gallery, Paris, France
2003 Orbits, Lonsdale Gallery, Toronto, Canada
       Landscapes, Hands, Flowers, Charles Nes Gallery, New York, New York
2002 Reflections, Lonsdale Gallery, Toronto, Canada
       Flowers, Michael Dunsford Gallery, Seattle, Washington
2001 One Off, Special Photographers Gallery, London, England
       Vues de Touraine, Maison du Loir et Cher, Blois, France
1999 Window Series, Pinhole Visions Gallery, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
1998 Sans Objectif, Carré Davidson Galerie, Tours, France
       Paysages Touraine, Carré Davidson Galerie, Tours, France

Selected Group Exhibitions
2011 Saints and Sinners, Antebellum Gallery, Rick Castro curator, Los Angeles, California
2005 Pingyao International, Pingyao Museum, Pingyao, China
2004 Photo Review Best of Show, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
       Summer Group Exhibition, Drabinsky Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2003 Marubi 2003, National Gallery of Arts, Tirana, Albania
       Pinhole and Photograms, Lonsdale Gallery, Toronto, Canada
       Works on Paper 15th annual, Charles Nes, New York, New York
2002 New Gallery Opening, Charles Nes Gallery, New York, New York
       Works on Paper 14th annual, Charles Nes, New York, New York
2001 American Photographers, French Institute, New York, New York
       Why Pinhole?, Visual Studies Workshop Gallery, Rochester, New York
       Works on Paper 13th annual, Charles Nes, New York, New York
       Toronto Art Fair, Lonsdale Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2000 Out There Here, Provincetown Museum of Art, Provincetown, Massachusetts
       Tracing Shadows, Lonsdale Gallery, Toronto, Canada
       Works on Paper 12th annual, Charles Nes, New York, New York
       Photo L.A. 2000, Santa Monica Civic, Santa Monica, California
1999 Millennium, Special Photographers Gallery, London, England
       Magiae Naturalis, Lonsdale Gallery, Toronto, Canada
       Pinhole Art, Ohio Art League, Columbus, Ohio
       Works on Paper 11th annual, Charles Nes, New York, New York
1998 Camera Ready, York Quay Gallery, Toronto, Canada
       Pinhole International, Lonsdale Gallery, Toronto, Canada
1997 Avant Premier, Claude Samuel Galerie, Paris, France
       Esprit des Lieux, Château de Tours, Tours, France
       Petit Format, Carré Davidson Galerie, Tours, France

Reviews/Bibliography
2011 The Pinhole Photography of Robert Mann, Gutfire Magazine, July 2011
2009 International Contemporary Pinhole Photography Artists, PhotoEd, #25 Spring 2009
2003 Pinhole Photography, Toronto Star, Peter Goddard, May, 2003
       The Enhanced Mishap, Pinhole Journal, Eric Renner, vol. 19/1 May, 2003
2002 At Home in France, The New Yorker, January 7, 2002
       Photography From France, Arts4All, Marceal Ney, January, 2002
2001 Why Pinhole?, Afterimage, Steven Eckel, vol. 28 no. 4, Winter 2001
       Deux Américains à Blois, La Renaissance du Loir-et-Cher, June 15, 2001
       La Lumière et ses Diamants, La Nouvelle République, Lorraine Spindler, June 7, 2001
       Les expositions s'enchaînent, La République du Centre, June 8, 2001
       Jeffrey Blondes et Robert Mann, Loisirs 41, June 13, 2001
2000 Out There Here, Art New England, Sara London, October/November 2000
1999 Works on Paper, Journal of the Print World, Dennis Wepman, vol. 22 no. 3, Summer 1999
       Contact 99, Now Magazine Toronto, Si Si Peñaloza, May 13-19, 1999
       Pinhole Photography, Subterranean Notes Art on the Net, Gregg Kemp, November 1999
1998 Search for the Personal Touch, Monochrome #18, Andreas Licht, October 1998
       Robert Mann, The New Darkroom Handbook, Joe De Maio, 1998
1997 Pinhole Images, Darkroom User Magazine, Ed Buziak, issue 31 #5, 1997
1989 Tirages, P.P.S. News, Anne Rose Schlutbohm, November 1989
1987 Robert Mann, Exposure Magazine, Cindy Lamb, vol.1 no.2, 1987
       Robert Mann, Magazine Main, Kathleen Moloney, vol.2 no.5, 1987

A.K.A.s
Bob Mann, Bobby Mann, Robert C. Mann

 

Biography

When Robert Charles Mann was eight years old he made his first photographic print before he had even taken a photograph. Robert’s father, who was also a photographer, had a darkroom in their home. Because of this he says that he discovered the magic of photography "in reverse" so to speak. He shares his intense interest in photography with that of music. His mother was a concert pianist so Robert grew up hearing her repertoire of the 19th century impressionists who have undoubtedly influenced his imagery. He attended the Ohio State University School of Music and in 1980 received his B.A. in music theory and performance from Musicians Institute in Hollywood, California. In 1990 he studied platinum printing at the Maine Photographic Workshops and in 1992 he attended the Pigment Printing Workshop at the Fine Print Studios of the Düsseldorf Museum.

During the 1980's Mann was involved with many experimental music and performance art projects incorporating visual installations with electronic and prepared instruments. These projects led to his involvement with the Art Club in Los Angeles, which was a vehicle for the advancement of creative projects in the Los Angeles area. Concurrently Robert was also chief photographer for Exposure Magazine as well as being the exclusive printer for Herb Ritts producing all of his books and editorial work. In 1985-86 he was Ritts’ assistant and studio manager. He soon became one of the most sought after photographic specialists printing the work of Helmut Newton, Mary Ellen Mark, Michel Comte, Dennis Hopper, Peter Lindbergh and Sheila Metzner among many others. His work also includes producing prints for Twelve Tree and Twin Palms photographic books as well as the Hollywood Archives. A count made several years ago by looking at invoices for past work proved that Robert has made over one million prints in the past twenty five years.

In 1989, with an international reputation in photography and photographic printing, Robert moved to Paris France where he now resides. Robert has published several photographic processes and his darkroom is on the cover of the renowned book “The New Darkroom Handbook” and featured inside. He currently uses pinhole cameras exclusively to achieve his ethereal images and continues to print privately for a select group of photographers while producing his own works for gallery and museum exhibitions.

Recently Robert has been working with Brad Pitt, first producing his story of Angelina Jolie for W Magazine and continues printing Pitt's massive archive of negatives. Pitt has thus become a collector of Mann’s work purchasing eleven prints from the “Orbit Series” and “Flower Series”.

Robert Mann is represented by Arno Ferrié in Paris, Chris Kewbank in London, Ron Baxter Smith in Toronto, and Charles Nes in New York. He is in many private and public collections internationally.

Robert Mann and Brad Pitt in the vineyards of Chateau Miraval, France, May 2011
Photo by Angelina Jolie

 

Artist Statement

I hope one finds my photographs an experience rich in dreams and that they induce an exploration of the psyche. Several different lensless cameras are used to accomplish this. The pinhole camera has a way of suggesting objects rather than representing them because of the particular quality the pinhole image produces. This suggestive character carries with it a more profound mystery, which is not found on the surface of the image but rather in the possibilities of interpretation. The pinhole camera provides the aesthetic means needed for a subjective experience by the viewer. When this technique is combined with my themes and choice of subjects, the photographs begin to breath and become metaphoric environments.

A singular characteristic of pinhole photography is the fact that exposures are quite long, varying from seconds to several hours. This cumulative exposure produces effects that cannot be seen by the eye. Moving objects become translucent, having a vibrating quality, and some objects may become completely transparent in the process due to displacement during exposure. There are objects in my photographs that produce effects that seem not directly associated with the object itself.

The Reflection Series is an experiment in both method and concept. Using the idea that moving water and a long exposure yield a cumulative image, I point the camera at a water surface in direct opposition to the sun. While standing in the water, I discover patterns of reflected sunlight, which are disturbed by currents and underlying objects. By using a red filter over the pinhole, the reflection is distinguished from the water as an abstract shape on an opaque background. These photographs, however, are not mere abstractions because their origins are entirely organic.

The Head Series was created with a hand-made pinhole camera using 4x5 inch black and white film and an orange filter. I direct and choreograph each subject through a single exposure of two minutes in length, that is to say the final image is not a montage of several different images, but rather a unique performance by the subject changing positions during the exposure resulting in the accumulation of all positions recorded on one piece of film. The inspiration for this series was indeed the work of Francis Bacon. The way he can twist, mangle and distort his subject's personas and still maintain their essence has always profoundly intrigued me.

The Window Series was created with a hand-made pinhole camera using 4x5 inch black and white film and inspired by an 18th century window found in the attic of my house in France. The window became the catalyst and my muse for this work in progress. Voyeurism is at the heart of photography. My intent here is for the viewer to be conscience of the voyeur in each of us as we examine the depths of our own thoughts.

My work is entirely an analog process; no Photoshop was used in any of these photographs. The prints for each image are made on either silver chlorobromide baryta fiber based paper or photo sensitized linen using a lithographic developer which yields its unique color and granularity due to the fibers of the paper being revealed in the surface image itself. Once I've edited a group of negatives, I then print them in a highly variable process. An image's significance may change with every choice I make concerning its qualities of contrast, density, and tone. A photographic image can be printed in thousands of ways, and the tactile quality of the print is as important as the choice of materials. These prints are developed in a caustic soda solution that is very sensitive to temperature, dilution, rate of oxidation, and duration of the print's immersion. After the print is developed, the final stages of the process ensure the archival stability of the silver chlorobromide paper stock I work with. The print constitutes half the aesthetic of the photograph. The thematic process that began before the exposure was made and a more spontaneous chemical experimentation both take place while printing the negative. The darkroom is truly a place of alchemy where conscious decisions are made to evoke an unconscious allure.

These photographs carry the possibility of many messages. They are enigmas born to be deciphered by the viewer.