Hi! I’m Rob.
Photographer. Neurodivergent. Twenty-five year partner to a beautiful soul. Parent to a kiddo almost as tall as me. Dog dad of two. I live for Karissa’s laughter and Isaac’s hugs; am enthralled by the variety of human expression; desperately miss living in Hong Kong; and could easily make a habit of eating more chocolate cake and Korean rice cake than is healthy for me.
So why family photography? I was once an ESL teacher. Both in Seoul and in Hong Kong. Before that, an early childhood educator. And most recently a homeschool teacher. I’m done teaching my kiddo now. And at fifty, I understand in ways that I previously hadn’t that the years are far too few, time spent with loved ones is far too short, and memories fade with age. For me, a photograph returns me to a time and place with a loved one in ways that no other medium can. It grounds me. Sitting with a family photograph is meditative. It’s restorative. Being able to offer this to others feels like a beautiful act of service.
My Story
This season of my life begins with a smile. Her smile. Karissa’s. I was in my mid-twenties when I walked into her dorm room in Missoula, Montana. I remember it was crowded with friends of hers. But the only actual memory I have of that moment is her smile. Directed towards me. You know the type of smile: the type that lights up a room and makes everything else dimmer as a result. Karissa and I became close friends in a short period of time. Best friends, actually. And I fell madly in love with her. We married soon after and subsequently moved to St. Louis, Missouri where I worked my first job with kids at a children’s shelter and she pursued her masters in social work. Two years later, we moved to Portland, Oregon.
Karissa gave birth to our kiddo in 2008, at which time I learned something of love that I hadn’t known prior to his birth: a parent’s love expands the heart to an unimaginable degree. Life has been a bit of a blur since then. We moved to Seoul where I taught English to elementary students, then to Hong Kong. Karissa was the primary caregiver for Isaac during his early years, but we swapped roles once we returned to the States. She took a job as a medical social worker in Washington and I became the stay-at-home parent and homeschool teacher here in Bellingham.
Isaac is quickly approaching adulthood now and I’m meeting this moment with a new aspiration: to be a documentary family photographer. Documentary because I deeply appreciate how an honest moment organically unfolds in the environment without me meddling in its development. And because the everyday is worthy of art. But also because traditional posed family photos fail to capture what it feels like to be a partner and a parent. To be all over the emotional map. To be excited. In love. Full of joy. Frustrated. Exhausted. Overwhelmed. Vulnerable. Nostalgic. And to be any combination of these over the course of a singular day. I want to feel a moment spent with loved ones when I look at family photos. I want to remember the expressions that reveal my kiddo’s personality, and my partner’s. I want to remember who we were and are. So yeah, this is me. In a nutshell. This is where I’m at and I hope that this season in my life can benefit others in a meaningful way.
