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Meet Robert Hunter

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

Robert, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I am Blackfeet and Shoshone-Paiute born and raised in Montana. I come from the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Browning, MT and the Duck Valley Indian Reservation in Owyhee, NV. However, throughout my life, I have lived in various places such as Phoenix, Seattle, and Salt Lake City.

Growing up, I’ve always had strong urges to create and express myself through some kind of media. So, I dabbled in most of the art forms. The problem was that nothing quite filled the hole in my chest and in my younger years, I found it really frustrating. I found a small creative outlet/release in writing, however, my fingers couldn’t keep up with my brain and words would often escape. To this day, I still struggle putting words together in some sort of cohesive manner.

After graduating high school, I spent two years at The University of Montana but ultimately dropped out because I couldn’t figure out the right career path. I moved to Washington state and started working full time as a dishwasher. I’ve spent some long nights buried in what seemed like an endless dish pit. Every now and then, I visit this place in my sleep. One night in that hot, steamy dish pit I had the realization that if I’m going to be broke, I might as well be broke doing something I love. From that moment on, I decided to dedicate my life to understanding and utilizing the art and craft of filmmaking. Indigenous representation both in front of and behind the camera. Cinematography became my form as a storyteller and the hole in my chest is now gone. Nothing has ever felt more right than the first time I picked up a camera — although I wouldn’t say it has come naturally or easy. It has been and continues to be a lot of hard work.

Over the course of several years, I devoured books on cinematography, photography, and filmmaking as a whole. I’ve spent years working at a camera rental house as well as doing freelance work on the side. All the while getting my AAS in photography at Salt Lake Community College (great school).

One night, I had a dream that I decided to join the Marine Corps. I was ready to put my entire life on pause and do my time in the service. I was willing to cut off my hair, take the ASVAB, and go overseas. I knew it would be challenging and life-changing but I was ready to commit myself. The next day I started my application to the American Film Institute. Fast forward two years and here I am in my final year as a cinematography fellow.

Can you give our readers some background on your work?
As a Cinematographer, I consider myself a service provider. First and foremost, I am in service to the story, therefor the community. Our lens has the power to influence our current society’s views and opinions. My indigenous upbringing and personal biases will always dictate my consciousness behind the camera which is then baked into the marrow of the story and how its told. It is in this way the lens determines the narrative. We as cinematographers have a great responsibility in our service to the story and community. In many ways, it’s audacious of us as filmmakers to attempt the recreation of real life. Because every character is a real person. They have origin and we get to witness them in their most vulnerable, ugly and beautiful moments. As a cinematographer, we are also the bridge between the science/technology and artistry of filmmaking. It’s my responsibility to work closely with the director and find ways to use the current science and technology to develop a visual grammar that communicates emotions written on a page. It’s a matter of using the tools at our disposal to create something tangible and pressing all of the emotional buttons along the way.

As an indigenous artist and cinematographer, it’s always been a question of where I am at in this art form. Considering the basis of cinema is colonial and has traditionally been inaccessible to my people. Now that it’s accessible, the question becomes how can we decolonize our minds and step away from the Euro-American image-making traditions which typically depicted indigenous peoples as a proud, primitive, disappearing race? Another example of optics determining the narrative and influencing society to see us this way. How do we step away from this perspective and develop our own grammar as tribal people in cinema. For me, it starts behind the camera and decolonizing the way we’ve been taught to see ourselves. Give the soul back. I think these questions are universal and apply to all stories because at the end of the day we are all humans beings with origin and backstory. One of the most beautiful aspects of filmmaking is that we are all so different and have our own unique ways of looking at things yet we share these wide ranges of human emotions.

What responsibility, if any, do you think artists have to use their art to help alleviate problems faced by others? Has your art been affected by issues you’ve concerned about?
I happen to think that this city is the place to be for my art form. Although there is something to be said about proximity to home and the communities that fuel our art and give us our unique perspectives. I can’t really speak for other art forms (although I’m sure it’s similar), but we live in a generation where visual imagery and expression is communicated in real-time through live social media and youtube. The beautiful thing about this is that it empowers and gives voice to those individuals and communities who have traditionally been disenfranchised. Anyone can now tell their story and you can bet the immersion and perspective of that individual will be clear. Another example of how our optics determines the narrative and how that narrative has the power to influence society’s perspective. The protests up in Standing Rock is a great example in that it seemed like a media war at times. People could create live videos that teleported you to the front lines and say “see for yourself.”

As a cinematographer, it raises many questions when looking at the story as to how we can provide that level of immersion and involvement in these manufactured moments and how can the technology of today empowers me to do so.

What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
I am currently in pre-production on my AFI thesis film titled Kissy and The Shark. It’s about a young, working-class teenager who tries to save a hopeless, beached shark that is dying of plastic contamination. It’s a thought-provoking film highlighting the consequences of environmental destruction on our physical health and the shared experiences across all species due to manmade pollution, particularly habitats polluted by plastics. We are slated to shoot March of 2020. It’s a subject that I happen to be very passionate about and I’m thrilled to be working with a great writer/director and core team of creatives. For people who are interested in learning more and would like to help support the project, they can visit Kissy.co.

My personal website is currently under construction at the moment, but if people would like to check out more of my work my Instagram is:
https://www.instagram.com/robertlhunter/

The tricky thing about short-form independent cinema is that most of the time the films are out trying to hit festivals and not always readily available to the public.

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
Haye Yukio, Doug Barden, Weston Bury, Zack Ramos-Taylor, Jordan Tyner, Devin Ekkar

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1 Comment

  1. William C Innes

    December 10, 2019 at 16:23

    That was an intelligent discussion, Robert. Good luck with your shark project.

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