Juror: Robert Fichter

Robert Fichter’s photographs, prints, books, and computer images are lush, dense works that deal with sociopolitical issues concerning humankind and its interaction with the natural environment. A persistent theme in his work is the revenge of nature against the capricious behavior of man. He sets up elaborate tableaux of objects and images and photographs these assembled scenarios with whatever is on hand – a 4x5 view camera, a Diana plastic camera or a Polaroid 20 x 24. Preferring to describe himself as an “image-maker” rather than a photographer, Fichter is also known as a “photographist” who paints and draws on his photographs and creates etchings and lithographs using photographic processes.

Robert Fichter was born in Fort Myers, Florida, 1939. He studied painting and printmaking at University of Florida, Gainesville (B.F.A. 1963) and photography and printmaking at Indiana University, Bloomington (M.F.A. 1966). He also has held visiting artist and teaching positions at UCLA, Cranbrook Academy of Art, and Florida State University. His awards include two NEA fellowships (1979 and 1984) and his work is exhibited throughout the U.S., including the Whitney Biennale, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. His work is in the collections of the National Gallery of Art, High Museum of Art, and Los Angeles County Museum, to name a few, and also featured in numerous photography books, including many of his own. He currently lives in Tallahassee, Florida.