With a life long interest in art Bob became involved with still photography while in the U.S. Navy as he served with a helicopter detachment in the Vietnam war zone. After his enlistment expired he turned his camera to two of his favorite subjects, the natural beauty of western Pennsylvania, and the change of an era, the demise of the steel industry in the area around Pittsburgh, and the on going transition.
He began doing assignments for Fallingwater in 1990, and it has developed into a partnership. His pictures of the house have been published in numerous books and magazines, nationally and internationally. The book "Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright's Romance with Nature" has his pictures of the house and nature shots. In 2001 the first Fallingwater calendar was published by Universe, a division of Rizzoli International Publications. It was an instant success and has continued to be one of their best sellers. In 2004 he and Fallingwater began producing a poster, limited edition prints, and note cards, which can be viewed on the Printed Matter page. and select photographs of Fallingwater can be seen on the Frank Lloyd Wright: Fallingwater, Kentuck Knob page both in the Photo Gallery. In the Fall of 2005 he had an exhibit of 70 black and white photographs of the house and nature called "The Poetry of Nature", displayed at the Barn at Fallingwater. A poster with the same title has been printed and is available for purchase on the Printed Matter page in the Photo Gallery. The exhibit was moved to the Community College of Beaver County in March of 2006, and was shown at Chatham College, in Pittsburgh, in the Spring of 2007. Bob has been the official photographer of the Frank Lloyd Wright house Kentuck Knob since 1995. It was originally the I. N. Hagan House and renamed Kentuck Knob by the present owners Peter and Hayat Palumbo. Original photographs and art giclees of Kentuck Knob can be ordered though the contact page.
From 1981 to '89 he documented the steel mills and mill towns in the Monongahela River valley from Pittsburgh to Clairton. On advice from a photo editor at Black Star, in New York City, he periodically added some shots as demolition and then development took place, but sat on the work until 2005, when the sites were developed. He had an exhibit of 35 black and white photographs at the Bost Building, the union headquarters from the Homestead strike against Carnegie, in September of 2005 and it moved to California University of Pennsylvania in February of 2006. It is under consideration at other venues. A poster titled "Duquesne 1982" has been printed and is available for purchase on the Posters and Prints page.
His clients have included: Perkins Eastman Architects; Duquesne University; Slippery Rock University; the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra; Sony Classical Music; the Andy Warhol Museum, Kentuck Knob and others.
He has a BA, cum laude, in Photography from Point Park University, and has been in numerous regional exhibits. He has also been in shows in Boston and Washington DC. In 1994 he had a one man show at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh. His work is in over 200 collections.