The aim of this website is to share the versatility, creativity and exceptional photographic skill of Bob Martin, and to share his visual record of the energy, passion and talent of the entertainers who captured the imaginations of South African audiences from as far back as the early 1960's.
About Bob Martin
Through his magical lens, BOB MARTIN reveals his chameleon-like empathy
with all his subjects.
He started his photographic career whilst in
Kenya during the Mau Mau emergency, working as a ‘scene of crime’
photographer as a reservist with the Kenya Police, and then, on his
return to SA as a Sunday Times photographer.
He then broadened his
experience by working as a publicity-stills cameraman on a number of
international film sets, also assisting the legendary ‘Karsh of Ottawa’
on the film, “Zulu” with Michael Caine.
Long before I became a photographer of the Theatre, I was a lover of
classical music a passion inherited from my parents, who were both
talented musicians.
My photography of the Opera - with its
amazing music, the genius of its stars, the conductors and wonderful
musicians in the orchestra pit as well as the entire back-stage
technical crew - was so overwhelmingly inspirational that from the word
go it was impossible not to get wonderful pictures...
As you will no doubt read in my anecdotal captions to the photographs in this particular section of my book, when photographing Cabaret and The Musical theatre, life was never dull, and I had many ‘experiences’ with cabaret artists who are sometimes, notorious ‘Drama queens’...
It is I think, probably because of my brief but exciting (and
exhausting) interlude as a dancer, during my youth, that I
automatically felt completely at ease when photographing ‘Le dance’.
I was fortunate that my work included capturing the ‘greats’ of dance,
from the classical beauty of the lovely Margo Fontyn to the exciting
earthiness of the company of Gypsy kids, in the Jose Greco Flamenco
dance company...
I’ve always been smitten by the magic of the Theatre. As a very young
man, I wanted to be an actor and performed on stage in several
productions despite having been warned about it's precariousness as a
profession.
My fleeting experience treading the boards, also a brief
spell with the University of Cape Town Ballet company as a dancer, gave
me a real taste of all the ‘heart-break-house’ penury for which the
profession is renowned and which, had I continued to act, or dance,
would surely have been my lot...
Working as a publicity Stills photographer on a film is most
challenging and can be very exciting, for film-making combines the
highly technological Cinematic art and genre, converting the written
pages of the shooting script into a piece of Motion-picture art, plus
that of the director, the cinematographer and the actor’s talents, all
in one ‘take’...
Portrait photography is not only a highly personal experience for the
sitter but also for the photographer. Most of my theatre, dance and
music portraits are by their very nature, pictures of extraordinarily
gifted people. Whether they are actors, singers, musicians, or dancers,
the prime requisite is for me to gain their trust and get them to relax
first, and then to try and connect, on a personal level.
