Conversations with Robert Hayman

Today we’d like to introduce you to Robert Hayman.

Robert, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
In high school, I painted a lot. My subject of choice was women and I painted them in a stylized kind of way inspired by artists like Patrick Nagel and Mel Odom. A girl asked me to do her makeup…when I told her I had no idea how to do that, she said…just paint my face as you do in your paintings just with this makeup instead of paint. I did I proceeded to shoot 1 cartridge of Polaroid film of her. That’s ten images…the first 9 were nothing special… boring… but the 10th picture was. She had turned her head and her hair flipped around and the timing was dead on and the image was…surprisingly amazing. I was hooked. A few years later after my 3 year time as an Airborne paratrooper in the US Army stationed at Fort Bragg, I moved to Paris with my little portfolio of pictures in hand able to pay my rent in a little apt I had arranged for three months…and ready to become the planets next big fashion photographer.

Well…I realized quickly that my photos were just not at the level they needed to be…I wasn’t getting the reaction I had hoped for…but…one modeling agent took me aside and said…”Your pictures are all over the place…there is no inherent style, and that’s what we look for, but this makeup. You did the makeup in these pictures?” So she sent me that very day to an artist agency and I was signed immediately as a makeup artist. I went on to live in Paris for a couple of years and was on the makeup teams for the Paris collections for such designers as Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, and Jean Paul Gaultier to name just a few. Ever since then, I’ve been building my book and finally…after years and most importantly after not really trying, I have developed my style. This is how I began as an image maker.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Would I describe the road as smooth…ummm…no? What’s difficult is just to have people see you…to see your work.

Generally, when someone sees my work it’s favorable and often it leads to a shoot. Getting an agent has been difficult as every agency’s roster in LA is full and they are not considering bringing on new talent. Also, I consider myself an iconographer and not just a photographer. Most extremely successful industry photographers are skilled technicians, having been trained or schooled in photography. I am self-taught in both pre and post-production. My work is my art. I have a vision and idea and I carry it through from beginning to end. I do the makeup…select the clothes and accessories and or make them myself…select the location…light the thing and then work my own sensibility onto the images in photoshop after the shoot…this is what gives my work my stamp…my style. Agents have said…I wouldn’t know how to market you…no one does all those things.

But it’s what sets me apart in that the image is a fully realized capture of my vision. Because of this, I am more like a Steven Meisel or Paolo Roversi, a photographer who brings so much of their own perspective to a shoot. I strive to create images that are as much as possible original and mine. Do I use the things I see other photographers who have come before me? Of course. I am inspired and pay homage either consciously or unconsciously in my work. So the biggest obstacle I have faced to date is just to have someone with authority just look at my portfolio, but I am extremely hopeful and feel strongly that that is about to change this year. After Covid, I have found myself ready to tackle the world and force people to see my images and be open to my process.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I specialize in working intimately with my subject…making them feel at ease and comfortable. Drawing from my extensive theatrical and performance background I see all that a picture will eventually be. The makeup…so I do it.

The styling…so I select everything that is seen or create it myself…but I feel my real gift is in my ability to direct a subject whether that be a model, musician, actor, comedian, or artist. In a world inundated with imagery…inundated with people calling themselves photographers because they have a digital camera, I find it is most important now to be renegade…where only a specific point of view will be seen in the sea of digital pictures. I am known for my theatricality…my color…my invention.

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
I’ve lived in many cities which include Paris, New York, and Miami, and now I reside in Los Angeles. I’ve found that there are more creatives here than in any other city I’ve lived in. Everyone is a filmmaker, director, photographer, actor, model, set designer, costume person blah blah blah. What I find interesting is the importance of socializing. Going out…to a party, an event…whatever. My advice as it works for me is: even though I may not be feeling it, I force myself to go out to most things I’m invited to because generally speaking every time I do, I meet someone who likes my work and who considers a collab or just outright hiring me.

It’s very important to have a series or portfolio at your fingertips…easy to see. On your phone. People know within seeing three images if they like your work or not…so be ready to whip out your phone and sell yourself. That’s another thing until you have representation…and even after you do CONFIDENCE in your work is extremely important. Save the self-deprecation and be as confident as you can possibly muster without sounding arrogant, and that sometimes is a fine line to walk. But people will not have confidence in your talent if you lack it in yourself…and trust me you want to impress everyone you meet who gifts you with their attention…because, in the end, the old adage is, unfortunately, true: IT’S WHO YOU KNOW.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://armyofmonsters.wixsite.com/robert-hayman-icon
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ROBERTHAYMANICONOGRAPHY/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zO0LpvTmTH0&list=PLl2iaXMMOxrd539KikmMOLYzomKBvvQe7