Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words

What's a Nice Robot Girl Like You, Shooting In A Place Like This?

The story of a formerly homeless, now successful photographer whose Driver's License says "Robot"

Robot inspires.

This is an amazing tale of true passion, deep love and a rare ability to overcome some typically devastating adversity and emerge a real winner. This my friends is inspiration at its very best so if you would like more happiness and success in your life please read on.

Ever notice that the images you see on the cover of Glamour Magazine or any similar publication dedicated to beauty and fashion look nothing like those images in your selfie collection? There are reasons for this and it is not all about the equipment. There are plenty of people with high end gear from Nikon or Canon that still can't produce a truly breath taking image or in the extreme even a viewable image.

Why is this true? Because friends high end professional photography requires it all. Great equipment and superb technical skills are required to be sure. But most importantly yet least talked about is a genuinely passionate professional photographer with an unshakeable commitment to making their subjects truly happy and thus looking their very best. That is how those never disappointing images on top magazines are created, with a combination of technical skill and a true passion for the art. Those rare photographers with all of the necessary skill and real passion reside on the top of their field and command appropriate compensation for their work. It is just like acting, anyone can, many do but few ever become true "stars." And so with this understanding allow me to introduce you to the next photographic image creator super star; Robot.

No not THAT kind of Robot, no R2D2, but a very real very sweet and lovely extremely talented photo super star by the name of Robot. Yeah, I know me too, but darn if she didn't produce a genuine Driver's License showing her name as Robot. True artists often have little quirks like Vincent van Gogh cutting off his ear, so adopting the name Robot is a relatively minor quirk but her stunning skill as a photographer is nothing short of utterly amazing. Take a minute and look at her website and I am sure you will agree, Robot is one spectacular photo genius. https://www.robotphotography.com/.

Okay, sure she is a truly wonderful photographer, so what? Well what is how she got to this place. You see Robot, then using a different name, was born and spent her early life in Arkansas. Arkansas is not generally considered an artistic epicenter. But she eventually worked her way to the Los Angeles area and at first actually worked as Pharmacy Technician but hated the job so she began to get involved in photography leaving legal drugs behind her. She helped produce the sensational "Anna Runs America for Veterans" event in 2014 in which Anna Judd, also a wonderful artist literally ran across the entire United States from Venice Beach, California to New York City in just 100 days. Robot was right there with her the whole way taking many of the photos you may view here: http://annarunsamerica.com/.

But there were hard times too including a brief but very unpleasant period of being homeless. Yet with extreme passion and determination Robot fought on and began gaining a steadily increasing fan base for her extraordinary work. Here are but three examples from Yelp.

My photos came out amazing and I couldn't wait to book my next shoot with her.

She makes you feel so comfortable and relaxed, and shoots candid shots that really capture the true essence of the moment.

Right after meeting Robot, yes her real name, I was comfortable and felt great while shooting thanks to her upbeat attitude and the ability to make me look good!

But perhaps the most amazing part of this tale is how Robot came to my attention. A few days ago a dear old friend by the name of Ellis Martin called me and said he had met a woman who was the best photographer he had ever met, even better than himself. Now understand that Ellis while a very nice guy is rarely modest so that statement hit me like an A bomb. It was also fascinating to me because about almost two decades ago Ellis and I worked together and at some point I rewarded him with a very nice Nikon camera. Ellis had never before done much photography but he quickly started to play with his new camera and soon he indeed became darn good and even had his own gallery for a while. So to hear Ellis of all people tell me that he met someone truly extraordinary in the art of photography compelled me to request a meeting with Robot.

My meeting with her was nothing less than utterly fascinating. Robot is a very unique person, someone who instantly lights a fire of joy within all she meets. She is driven by a passion to promote emotional intelligence and her love of humanity is impossible to ignore. So yes it is true, Robot can tell you the difference between an f stop and an ISO rating but far more importantly she is a genuine, highly skilled and passionately driven artist. I found my meeting with her to vastly inspirational and I truly hope my retelling of that moment has also inspired you.

 

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