Robbin Michael Wagner

Robbin Michael Wagner is one of the top fine art photographers in the Southeastern United States. He is the first and only photographer to be on permanent display in the Penthouse of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. He wrote, along with Brooke L. Denman "Zaharr The Reader" and "The Contemptuous Ruby" and "Bird of Paradise on the Sunset Limited" Mr. Wagner was born in Flint, Michigan in 1954 in the heart of General Motors. He spent his youth dancing in the Flint Ballet Theatre and acting in The Flint Community Players. He also acted in summer stock theater productions sponsored by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. His first camera, an Agfa pop-down Bellows 620, was purchased at a flea market around the age of 9 for 25 cents. Mr. Wagner developed his roll film in old aluminum ice cube trays in the crawl space under the stairs in the house he grew up in. He made contact prints only with outdated Velox paper given to him by the local newspaper photography department. In 1973, at the age of 18, he left Flint and moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and did aerial photography as well as taught basic photography courses for a local camera shop in Deerfield Beach. He did portraits of senior citizens along South Beach. Mr. Wagner moved to San Francisco in 1975 and immediately began his photographic career shooting modeling portfolios for the Grimme Modeling Agency. His occasional teacher, famed environmentalist, Ansel Adams was a major influence in his life. He opened his first studio at 2215 Filbert Street in the Marina District. Wagner left San Francisco in the late 70s and moved to New York City and became the fashion and beauty photographer for Wolfarhts Studio. He photographed tabletop setups for the studio's only two clients, Sears and J.C. Penney. During this time he began as a test photographer for many of the modeling agencies in New York. In 1980, newly married, he put away his camera, endeavored to prosper in the corporate world, and moved back to Ft. Lauderdale. He spent the next nine years away from the camera and became deeply involved in family and business. In 1989, the sudden death of his toddler son was a turning point in his life and in his photographic career. He opened up a small studio in Pacific Heights and began shooting fine art nudes. After two years in San Francisco, he moved one hour north to the small community of Bodega Bay. (Alfred Hitchcock's Birds, 1963), where he wrote The Contemptuous Ruby. Mr. Wagner had an opportunity to relocate his studio to New Orleans in 1998. He owned and operated The FilmWorks Photo Studio & Gallery in The French Quarter. Hurricane Katrina temporarily forced his relocation back to California in August 2005. He became bi-coastal and went back to New Orleans on the 5-year anniversary to film the short "The Contemptuous Ruby, " a major "hit" at the 2011 New Orleans Festival. Mr. Wagner is in development with the neo-noir full-length feature of the same name, The Contemptuous Ruby to be shot entirely on location in New Orleans in November 2023. Louisiana is a right-to-work state and offered Mr. Wagner 40% of his production budget in Louisiana Film Tax Credits if filmed in Louisiana.