Melissa Robin knew exactly what she wanted to do and how she wanted to do it from the time she moved from drawn and painted visual art to the mechanical grace of a working camera. Since then she has maintained a successful business as a commercial wedding photographer while compiling a book of images from one of her latest series, Drown. I sat down to a conversation with Ms. Robin one night in late November as part of Project Exposure’s online Artist Spotlight, in the hopes of delving a bit deeper into how she envisions, executes and interprets her own unique vision.
Jaime: Hey, this is Jaime from Project Exposure, and this is Melissa Robin, the Artist Spotlight for the month of December. Just to start off with a few basic interview-type questions, how old are you?
Melissa Robin: I’m 20 years old.
JL: Where were you born?

MR: I was actually born in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
JL: Nice. You are currently residing in Dover, New Hampshire, is that correct?
MR: Correct!
JL: Are you currently showing in a gallery?
MR: I am looking to be shown in more galleries, but I am now showing at an online gallery based in Ogunquit, Maine. My Drown series is there right now.
JL: What’s the name of the gallery?
MR: It’s the Chimento gallery.
JL: Oh, excellent. How long has the Drown series been shown in this gallery?
MR: It started on October 15 and ends on December 15.
JL: Is this your first gallery show, or have you shown in others as well?

MR: I have shown in other galleries, but this is the first as far as the Drown series in particular.
JL: Can you tell me a bit about what originally interested you in the art of photography, and how you got started?
MR: I started taking art classes my junior year in high school. I felt like I needed to create art, there were things I needed to tell people but I didn’t know how to express it through words and writing. I started drawing, painting, and eventually I took a photography class and completely fell in love with it. I feel like painting and drawing, I love doing those kinds of things, but I feel like I don’t have the talent to get that sort of emotion out of me, so photography is something I feel I can

truly get out, and show people what I’m feeling, and what I want them to see. Ever since my junior year I knew I wanted to pursue it.
JL: So it’s kind of something that immediately grabbed you, and you knew you’d have this passion for it?
MR: Exactly.
JL: I read that you went to the Hallmark School of Photography, located in Turners Falls, MA, right?
MR: Yes. It’s in western Mass.
JL: How did you learn about the school?
MR: I was looking into different art schools, and I was really considering going to a four-year school. But when I saw Hallmark, they do 60% business, and the rest is art photography.

I knew that I wanted to start my own photography business; it was the only career I could see myself doing. Honestly, I didn’t want to waste all this time in art school knowing that I wouldn’t learn that much about business. Obviously in wedding photography, the most important aspect is the business end. So, that really caught me and when I went to the school I absolutely fell in love with it. They have a beautiful location, and the fact that it was only ten months kind of pushed me toward it further. It’s an accelerated program, it’s basically two years crammed into ten months. You go to school Monday through Friday from 7am to 9pm, basically. It’s an intense program, but it was great.

JL: Wow, sounds like you had your work cut out for you…
MR: Yeah, it was pretty much the most intense ten months of my entire life.
JL: I think a lot of artists don’t necessarily school themselves on the business aspect of things, which is also very important. It’s great that you have talent, and you also know how to market it.
MR: Thank you very much!
JL: Can you give me a general idea of how your process works? How do you come up with your different themes and go about executing them?

MR: What originally sparked this whole series was actually in 2007, When I was in York, Maine. I was just walking around with my camera and my boyfriend at the time taking snapshots. I turned around, and there was this little girl standing on the rocks and gazing out into the ocean. It was kind of a foggy day, really eerie looking. I just turned around and took a picture and that’s kind of where it all started. As far as the Drown series now, some of the pictures are set up, like I’d take a model out and take a series of photographs, but my style isn’t really to pose people as in kind of a “sit like this” style. I’ll usually have a model who is engaged in movement, and I try to capture that movement.
JL: So basically, you’re trying to capture somebody in a kind of natural environment, reacting to the stimulus as they normally would instead of trying to manipulate the scene?

MR: Exactly.
JL: I know that especially in your Drown series, water is an integral part of the theme. Are there any other favorite spots that tend to inspire you?
MR: I get a lot of inspiration from my dreams. Many things I pick up on all stem from them. I keep a dream journal to record basic ideas and concepts, things like that. I’m always looking at different types of art and different types of photography to stay inspired.
JL: It’s very cool that you can draw on your unconscious as well as what you see around you. Has the Drown series been the most rewarding work for you personally to date? Are there any other series you’ve done that you might want to mention?

MR: Yeah, well, one of the pictures from the Drown series, the Flood picture, (Shown on the right.) won a first place and honorable mention International Photography Award in 2008, so that was kind of the jumping-off point for the Drown series. It made me want to push it a little bit more. I’m also working on a contrast series, called FLY, which is more inspirational. Like, even though things are keeping you down, you’re able to succeed and fly over it. Another series I’m working on is called Heart Attack, and it’s about basically the time in between a breakup, getting over it and finding a new love, that whole process. Or, at least my visual interpretation of that whole feeling. Both falling in love and falling out of love.

JL: The gallery you’re in right now- is it only online or can you go to Ogunquit and visit it?
MR: It’s actually only online- it’s www.chimentogallery.com/melissarobin
I also have prints available on my website, melissarobinphoto.com.
JL: How long have you been living in Dover?
MR: I moved to New Hampshire from Halifax when I was seven, and lived in Salem(NH) almost my whole life. Then I moved to Turners Falls to go to school, and I’ve been living in Dover now since July.
JL: Do you like it? It’s kind of a cool little college town.
MR: I love it- and in Portsmouth, I do portraits and wedding photography as well. Portsmouth is huge for weddings.
JL: I did check out your wedding photography website, and you do some nice work. Is there any advice that you can give to someone who sees your work and likes what you do, and would like to submit to an online gallery?

MR: I basically just saw a call for new work at the Chimento gallery, and sent them an email. They really liked my work, so he booked me right away.
JL:Do you have any events coming up? I read on your website that you’re working on a book featuring the Drown photographs. Can you tell me more about it?
MR: It’s definitely a future goal of mine. I’ve been working on this series since 2007 so I’ve got a lot for it. I think my time line goal, five years from now, is to have a complete series and to have it in book format, everything how I want it, and get it out to some publishing companies and get a book deal. I’d like in the next two to three years to start travelling more to do

photos, to document people in other countries near water and seeing how people interact with water in every single country. It’s such an important resource to us.
JL: When I was looking at your series, what really struck me was water in and of itself is such an elemental part of human life, no matter where you are of where you come from. Water is a mutable form when it comes to expression, and I think your series illustrates that.
MR: Thank you.
JL: Growing up, did you have particular artists that inspired you?

To see more of Melissa's work visit:

www.melissarobinphoto.com

MR: Yeah, I’ve always loved David LaChapelle’s work. I don’t really have his kind of style, but he completely inspires me, how he started off doing fine art photography and now he works for the biggest advertizing agencies in the world. Mary Ellen Mark, also, is one of my favorites; more a documentary style. But my photography teacher, Mr. Ariel, was with me through high school - he was the one who really inspired me to keep going. My senior year I took three or four independent studies just with him. He really got me into it and taught me a lot.
JL: Excellent. I love to hear about how high school teachers inspire their students. What advice would you give to the young and struggling artists out there, reading this interview?
MR: Don’t ever give up, no matter what. Don’t let other people bring you down; just continue on always.