Biography

Robert Schlatter is a native of Zürich, Switzerland, a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology and the Cooper Union School of Art in New York City. He paid his dues as an assistant to the photographer Irving Penn. Robert started his career in Paris, working on in-house projects for Hermès and Christian Dior as well as editorial fashion and portrait assignments for various French, German and Swiss magazines. An ad campaign for Levi’s brought him to the San Francisco Bay Area, where he is living today with his family . He now splits his time as a commercial / editorial portrait and still life photographer between California and New York.  In addition to his commercial practice, Robert is also working on long-term book projects. His first monograph “Ghost Man” has been published in 2021 . His second book “Portraits” will be published in 2024.

 

Selected Commercial and Editorial Clients

Banana Republic, The Gap, Shiseido, Elizabeth Arden, Neutrogena, Sephora, DHC Cosmetics, Paul Mitchell, Nordstrom, Nike, Motorola, Apple, Samsung, Google, Nest, Levi’s, Logitech, Panasonic, PepsiCo, Barclay’s Global, US Trust, Visa, UBS, Swatch, Genentech, McGuire, Herman Miller, New York Times Magazine, Wired, Dwell, BIG, Surface, HB, Soma, Elle Germany, Harper’s Bazaar

 

Awards

The One Show 2001, 2006, 2007, AR 100, GRAPHIS 2006, 2008, 2009, Western Art Directors Club, Archive Magazine’s 200 Best Ad Photographers Worldwide 2004 – 2012, Deutscher Fotobuchpreis 2021/22

 

Group Exhibits

Photo-Poetics, The Houghton Gallery, The Cooper Union School of Art, New York City, 1985

70 ans de Jardin des Modes, Musée des Arts Décoratifs du Louvre, Paris, 1992

Deutscher Fotobuchpreis, “Ghost Man”, Stuttgarter Buchwochen, 2021

Deutscher Fotobuchpreis, “Ghost Man”, Goethe Institute Oslo, Forum für Fotografie Köln, Regierungspräsidium Karlsruhe, Frankfurter Buchmesse,  2022

Photobook One, “Ghost Man”, Emkan Gallery Teheran, 2022

This is Not a Suitcase, “Ghost Man”, Khaneye Ma Art Residency Kerman Yazd, 2022

European Photobook Exhibition, “Ghost Man”, Goethe Institute Hong Kong, 2022

SF_retake, The Gallery at Harvey Milk Photo Center, San Francisco, 2024

 

Books

Monograph:

“Ghost Man”, 2021, Ars Lucida Press

Collective:

“I am almost always hungry”, Cahan & Associates Design San Francisco, 1999, Princeton Architectural Press

“Soak Wash Rinse Spin”, Tolleson Design San Francisco, 1999, Princeton Architectural Press

“Architecture isn’t just for special occasions”, Koning Eizenberg Architecture Los Angeles, 2006, The Monacelli Press

“Squaring the Circle” Brian Wall, 2015, Hackett/Mill Gallery San Francisco,  de Saisset Museum Santa Clara University

 

Library Collections

“Ghost Man” can be found in the collections of the following libraries:

SF MOMA Library

Fotomuseum Winterthur/Fotostiftung Schweiz Reference Library

The Cooper Union Library, Special Collections, NYC

The Bowes Art & Architecture Library, Stanford University

NYU Library, NYC

Hochschule Der Medien Library, Stuttgart