January 9, 2014

By Don Turner

Special to the Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE — The Vigo County Public Library and the River City Art Association will show the photographic art of the late Rob Robbins for the month of January.

Robbins, a native of Terre Haute, was a prize-winning photographer who stated, “I shoot to share.” He was strictly a digital photographer who switched from film around 1998.

The late Rob Robbins

He returned to Terre Haute in 2003 after a 48-year hiatus. Robbins enjoyed photographing images of nature as well as experimenting with documentary photography. He concentrated on capturing scenery and scenes just as he saw them, and was always looking for the unusual. He had an outstanding ability to find beauty in the everyday.

A founding member of the River City Art Association, Robbins will be greatly missed by his family and current members of the club. He believed art captures a moment in time. His photographs have graced the pages of National Speleological Society publications and the publications of the Nature Conservancy. His work has been featured out of state on the covers of programs for the North Alabama Land Trust. His photos also appeared on the cover of the Wabash Valley Community Band program for 2008.

Robbins also had a number of photographs in the Wabash Valley “Visions and Voices,” a digital memory project preserving the past and present for the future at Indiana State University.

Robbins’ renown had reached international status. A band in London saw a particular photo of his on the Internet and asked him if it could use the image as the cover for one of its popular CDs. He accepted the offer, and his photo graces the cover of the group Shedload of Love’s album, “Love and Affection.”