Robert Pennington is a New York-based documentary Photographer and Filmmaker. Pennington received his BFA in Film from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. His 3o+ year career in media arts has taken him throughout the US, Latin America, Europe, and the South Pacific.
Pennington has worked across disciplines in art and film throughout his career. His editorial work has shown at Cannes, Sundance, Berlin and the TriBeca Film Festivals. He has also edited and produced projects for HBO, Disney, MTV, Telemundo and numerous advertising agencies. Directorial efforts include the ESPN documentary, Polynesian Power and the forthcoming documentary film series, TWIST, Tales from America 21c, currently in post-production.
2010 marked a shift in Pennington’s artistic focus as he dedicated himself solely to work in still photography, producing OUTLIERS –photo essays in five parts. The ambitious series examines the many faces of global marginalization and its impact on people, their communities and country. OUTLIERS exhibitions include: REFUGEE CRISIS (2015) documents the unimaginable wave of mass migration at the height of the exodus throughout Europe; ZERO (2016) examines life after displacement for the victims of Colombia’s 60-year civil war; WE \wē\: I and the rest of the group that includes me (2017) explores immigration in the United States and the concept of WE through portraiture.
Pennington returned to live action photography in 2018 with TWIST, Tales from America 21c; a sobering, evocative documentary film series about the power of America –its people. We meet ordinary citizens, spirited and resilient, striving to make their way in this world –to have an American life. Pennington utilizes both still and motion photography, imagining each story as a portrait, a study that shows America as it really is –told by everyday people. He believes, “A portrait has that power of the small and personal, its potent –tender. And if you look long enough, it will tell you all about your world.” In TWIST, Tales from America, we feel the pulse of a people while unveiling the ever-changing shades of humanity in 21c America.
Pennington continues to develop the final installments of OUTLIERS: Looking for Solomon (Israel); and Two Nations (Sioux Nation/US). He lives and works from his home in the Catskill Mountains of New York.