Robin Broadbent “Minus Sixteen”

British photographer Robin Broadbent studied photography before starting his career in London in the 1990s. He currently lives and works in New York where he established his studio in 1999. Broadbent is renowned for his strong, abstract still life photography. As a young photographer Broadbent was inspired by the photographic work of Moholy-Nagy, Rodchenko, and the Bauhaus. Since then, he has created his own way of working and seeing, often flirting with the idea of modernism in today’s age. His images are intricate studies of objects with an emphasis on lighting and simple, bold graphic compositions. He looks for monochromatic abstractions, perhaps silhouettes, with a minimalistic approach to his work.

Broadbent creates images concerned with contemporary culture often working with the ordinary as his subjects. He plays with the perception of scale to create ambiguity with the object. He takes his subject from the ordinary to the extraordinary.

Broadbent has published three books. Marmalade (Browns, 1998) and Minus Sixteen (Browns, 1999) are a series of black and white photographs. In 2017, he released a book of his iconic personal and editorial work – titled The Photographic Work of Robin Broadbent published by Damiani.

Broadbent frequently shoots editorial projects for international publications and his work has been exhibited in London, New York and LA since 1991. His most recent show Reduction, Reduction was at Wren Gallery, London 2018.

Minus Sixteen Robin Broadbent Minus sixteen takes its title from one particularly cold night in Scotland, when the temperature dropped so dramatically it left a bizarre world. Published 1998 Designed by Browns 165 x 225mm Hardback cloth cover with dust jacket/poster 128 pages 60 black and white images Edition of 1,000 ISBN 0-9533730-1-0