• Echo Fine Arts is proud to welcome Robert Farber. With a career spanning over 50 years and over half-a-million copies of his books sold, Farber's painterly photographic style has influenced generations of photographers. His impressionistic artworks capture the essence of composition in every genre, including nude, still life, landscape and architecture. 

  • Register for the full Studio Tour here (available 24/7, or schedule your own watch time) : https://www.farberstudio.com/studio-tour

    1) Enter your email and schedule a time to watch. You will receive a confirmation email with an immediate watch link if you prefer to watch right away.

    2) Enjoy the Tour!

  • " I guess the best way to describe an image that is typically me, is an image that reflects my mood, my feelings at that time.

    What I look for in an image especially when I photograph a still life, is to find a composition that exists only through my own point of view."

    Robert Farber

     

  • About Robert Farber

    About Robert Farber

    Over the years Robert Farber has created iconic images. His global recognition has been established through his books, fine art exhibitions, lectures, TV interviews and award winning advertising campaigns, all in the genre of fashion, beauty, and life style. His unique diversity in subject, whether it be nudes or moods from Seascapes to Cityscape has always been captured in his signature painterly, romantic style.

     

    Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis brought Farber into Doubleday for the publication of his book “By The Sea,” which won the Art Director’s award for color photography. Aside from numerous creative awards, Robert Farber also received the Photographer of the Year from PMA (Photographic Manufacturers Association),  as well as the ASP International Award from the PPA (Professional Photographers of America). This award was given to those who’ve made a significant contribution to the science and art of photography. Some previous recipients of this award include Dr. Edwin Land (inventor of the Polaroid), George Hurrell, and National Geographic.

  • Farber’s work with nudes in fine art as well as in the commercial realm is known and respected. He has lectured for Ogilvy & Mather on the “Nude in Advertising.” ASMP requested to use Farber’s nudes as an examples of the artistic application in support of the National Endowment of Arts, after its backing of the controversial Mapplethorpe/Serrano exhibit. His book, “Farber Nudes,” was also included the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis estate collection.

     

    Farber’s fine-art photographs have been published in virtually every form. Farber has exhibited in galleries and museums world-wide. He’s lectured at the Smithsonian Institute, The George Eastman House, as well as Universities and professional groups throughout the United States, Japan, Australia and Europe. Aside from his fine art photography, Robert Farber’s work encompasses major campaigns for fashion, beauty and advertising, as well as film directing for TV and Film. Robert has recently been approached for a film documenting his life as a photographer which is to be produced for PBS in the USA.

  • An Early Passion for Painting

    late 60s - 70s
  • Robert Farber, Alone on a Hill, 1975
    Robert FarberAlone on a Hill, 1975 
  • 'His painterly nudes are characterized by discreet, elegant and architectural compositions of the female form and described as sensual, romantic,...

    Robert FarberTwo On A Rock, 1979

    "His painterly nudes are characterized by discreet, elegant and architectural compositions of the female form and described as sensual, romantic, painterly, and moody while employing soft focus and grainy film texture."

    Petra Golusic

     

  • Source of Inspiration

    The Gleaners by Léon-Augustin L'Hermitte, Greek and Roman representations of Venus Anadiomene, the pathos of British pre-raphaelites, the vibrating nature of German Romanticism, etc. Robert Farber's photographs combine with mastery various influences drawn from the history of painting from the last three centuries into one single masterpiece.
  • Farber Nude

    1974-2006
  • In parallel to its growing commercial career in the fashion industry, Farber's first book "Images of Woman", was published in 1976. Already, Farber had crafted his own distinguishable style: the female body appears in its entirety or as a motif, bathed in a sensual and natural light in interiors or impressionistic landscapes. The book caught the attention of art directors and gallerists alike, hence leading to new commercial assignments and fine art exhibitions. His talent for female nudes did not go unnoticed by Playboy and Penthouse, who commissionned him to create more erotic photographs, which he chose to publish under an alias.

  • 'For four decades the artist has dealt with the motif of the female nude; from the beginnings of the medium,...
    Robert FarberNatural Beauty Cover, 1994
    "For four decades the artist has dealt with the motif of the female nude; from the beginnings of the medium, this is a subject, intriguing, provocative and controversial, that has fascinated photographers. In Nudes, 1974-2006, he shoots the body, complete, fragmented and in groups, in contrived scenes in which there is no place for the accidental and in which it is liberated from any of the drama of the time in which it is recorded.
    Farber has a painterly manner in his approach to a subject that he quite often interprets in hazy frames, in which the sharpness of contour and border line is lost, a kind of atmosphere of ethereal nostalgia thus being achieved. The lens registers a motif that will totally occupy the composition; or else the background is reduced to the surface of a wall, and when he shoots in a given space, it will be a room, a meadow, the beach... The model does not look at the lens, and indeed the face seldom appears, for it is turned to the space within the frame; sometimes the head is actually outside the border of the composition. Details of hair and skin are played down in favour of harmony of form condensed in compositions in which there is order. The body is always at peace with itself and in relation to the other within the same frame, and it is perceived as universal language, for the individual identity is not essential."
    - Petra Golusic
  • Robert Farber, Torso, 1984
  • What makes a good Farber nude?
    Robert FarberNude With Bag Over Head, Milan, Italy, 1989

    What makes a good Farber nude?

    "Something that’s naturally shot, impulsively, when everything is right. It’s not set up, it’s caught impulsively. It’s just the same with my still lifes. I like the nude. It’s challenging. If you’re planning to do a nude or you’re looking at pictures you get the sense that it’s all been done. When I shoot it I don’t think of it like that. I think of it as something pleasing. Otherwise I’d have to concentrate too much on what I’m not there for. It could become forced. The pictures that I come up with are made impulsively, based on where the model is or the light is. I try to give the image more mystery. I think it can be an invasion of privacy if you’re looking at the person and you’re also looking at the face. It’s either a portrait or you’re looking at form. When you have some talent and you’re lucky, you’re in the right place at the right time, the model doesn’t have to have a great body but it has to work well with what you’re doing. I don’t cast a model like they do for a fragrance or soap ad. There the skin has to be perfect or the legs have to be perfect. I want to go as far away from the commercial work as possible."

    - R. Farber

    (Excerpt from an interview by John Paul Caponigro)

  • Robert Farber, Seeing Montana, 1992
     
     Robert Farber, Seeing Montana, 1992
  • A Fashion Photographer

  • Following his nudes books, Robert Farber gained more popularity in the advertising and fashion industry. His photographs appears on the covers of major publications such as QG, Vogue, Esquire, Elle, Viva, Cosmopolitan or Vanity Fair to name a few. He signed campaigns for Revlon, Ponds Cream, Caress Soap, Saks Fifth Avenue, Christian Dior, L'Oréal, Paramount Pictures, Bloomingdales and many more . Owned by conservative American companies, these advertising assignments validated the photographer's nude style while giving it legitimacy in the eye of the establishment. Additionally, his book "Farber Nudes" was listed in the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis estate auction. Farber was even asked to help with the National Endowment of the Arts as examples of good taste in nude photography.

  • From Fashion to Fine Art
    Robert FarberHollywood, 1982

    From Fashion to Fine Art

    "The most important inspiration and idea that came from a commercial assignment, was from a creative director for an ad campaign I shot for Philip Morris in 1982. He wanted to capture the glamour of smoking you would see in old Hollywood portraits and movies. Keep in mind that the old classic lighting in portraits by George Hurrell, classic images of Horst, or films like Casablanca were not appreciated in 1982 as they are now. So when he had me create images as if they were shot in the 1940’s, it not only gave those advertising images that I now show in galleries a classic fashion feel, but most importantly I applied that style to many of my nudes, and fashion from that time on."

    - Robert Farber

    (Excerpt from an interview with Holden Luntz)

  • 'I photographed Gia, a beauty known by many… but I tried to capture the Gia who was known by few.”
    Robert FarberGia on a Lifeguard Stand, 1979

    "I photographed Gia, a beauty known by many… but I tried to capture the Gia who was known by few.”

    This iconic picture of the “world’s first super model” Gia Carangi, simply known as “Gia” was taken by Robert Farber for Bloomingdale’s in 1979 at Fordham University pool. Famous for her provocative modeling style and lifestyle, she was Helmut Newton’s favorite model. As Farber explains: “Gia was just another major supermodel at the time. Her notoriety or story didn’t make any gossip columns, movies, or books until after her unfortunate death." 
     
    Flanked by Janice Dickinson and playful Debbie Dickinson, she is effortlessly sitting on top of the lifeguard stand in what seems to be a difficult position to hold; She appears self-assured and nonchalantly sexy.
  • Robert Farber, Empire Diner, New York, 1979
    Robert FarberEmpire Diner, New York, 1979
  • Americana

    A Journey of Moods

     

  • Robert Farber started his Americana series and subsequently published his book "American Mood" following travels throughout the West for advertising campaigns for Wrangler Jeans. 
  • " Photographic collections of America and Americana have been in widespread publication for decades. Most take a photojournalistic perspective, documenting life as it happens, at its most real. Variations on the theme exist, some going so far as to present a simultaneous aspect to its documentation.  [... ] Robert Farber has spent his professional career as a very different kind of photographic scribe. Rather than recount in images, Farber paints in dreams. Be it the dying sun of a beachfront horizon or the elegant curve of a human form, the mood is frozen, and the emotion is made to endure. What makes these captured moments all the more captivating is that they are not dreams but, in fact, reality. We just didn’t see it. Robert Farber did.”

    - Lee Sheridan

    Foreword of “American Moods”, Merrell publishing, 2004

     
  • Robert Farber, Winding Road, Prey, Montana, 1998
    Robert FarberWinding Road, Prey, Montana, 1998
  • 'Seated in the row in front of me at a cattle auction in Texas were these two ranchers. I was...

    Robert FarberTwo Cowboys, Southwest Texas, 1987

    "Seated in the row in front of me at a cattle auction in Texas were these two ranchers. I was able to compose the image without leaving my seat. I shot it on 35 mm black-and-white negative film, sepia-toned in Photoshop CS."

    - Robert Farber
  • Robert Farber, De Soto Rockport, Maine, 1981
  • Through his camera, Farber deconstructs reality to illustrate intangible moods. Each element becomes an independent entity with its own emotional...
    Robert Farber48 Stars Flag, Maine, 2007

    Through his camera, Farber deconstructs reality to illustrate intangible moods. Each element becomes an independent entity with its own emotional history. To quote Petra Golusic: “America too becomes a motif for the artist’s lens”. An old De Soto car, a raggedy flag, a pair of cowboy hats, these are elements which, taken individually, embody American culture. Farber retains their essence to wrap it up in a hazy atmosphere, hence transitioning from a symbolic element anchored in common cultural ground to a narrative et sentient motif conveying the artist’s feelings. 

    Humans are almost always absent. Their presence isn’t a necessity to narration; what Farber transcribes is his appreciation of solitude. He does so through minimalist compositions imbued with a dense atmosphere creating a welcoming sense of emptiness. Farber’s photographs become mental landscapes inviting the mind to peacefully wander.

     
  • By the Sea

    1982 - 1998
  • His nude books also led him to other territories. Following the publication of his fifth book Farber Nudes (1983), Farber received a call from former first lady and Doubleday senior editor Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Farber, who had recently spent time on the French Riviera, showed her his recent photographs, which included many seaside images. Onassis enthusiastically reacted: “Let’s call the book ‘By The Sea’ and add images from various parts of the world”.

    Farber's artworks are enhanced by the handwritten thoughts and comments of sixty people whose lives have been touched in some way by the sea. From Anne Bancroft and Whoopi Goldberg to a lifeguard at Malibu, from Erte and Yoko Ono to an innkeeper in Mexico, their eloquence transforms this book. From a collection of exceptional photographs, il becomes an homage to one of the most enduring relationships in nature: the bond that unites man to the sea.

    First published in 1987, then revised for paperback in 1994, ‘’By The Sea’’ went on to win the Art Director’s Award for Color Photography.

  • Robert Farber, Two Cabanas (and One Alone), Normandy, France
  • ' I love the sea and spent time on the Jersey Shore as a child. I think most people bond...
    Robert FarberRed Boat, Portofino, Italy, 1984

     

    " I love the sea and spent time on the Jersey Shore as a child.

    I think most people bond with water at some time in their lives."

    - Robert Farber
  • " Farber's coastal landscape is sensual, simply framed and perceived in terms of painting."

    "One of the artist’s adventures is ascribed to coastal scenes of sea and ocean (By the Sea, 1982-1998). Here, in comparison with the previously mentioned works, colour photography is fully present. Farber’s coastal landscape is sensual, simply framed and perceived in terms of painting. The artist’s traces of sojourns on the coasts conceptually signify the connection of different areas of the world by seas and oceans, for all comes from and returns to the sea, it is the symbol of the dynamics of life, of the world and the human soul. 

    In Portofino, he takes a picture of the bow of a red boat. Its dark reflection on the surface of the sea takes up just as much space as the central motif, which goes on beyond the border of the frame. The azure of the sea and the white reflections of the clouds on it seem to belong to the language of abstract painting. 

    He experiences the shores of California in an Impressionist tone of warm brown where the white Pacific slides down the beach. In the foreground, there is a lone sunny branch, while a dark brown rock or hill dominates the background, beyond which in the distance the horizon is glimpsed. Every thing connected with the land is brown (not even the sky is blue), and the shades of that colour reveal the humbleness of the landscape in its asceticism as against the white of the ocean that rolls between absence and presence."

    Petra Golusic

  • Robert Farber, Evening Sunset Reflection and an Old Boat, France, 1982
    Robert FarberEvening Sunset Reflection and an Old Boat, France, 1982
  • ...To Be Continued