Robert A. Schaefer Jr.

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Portrait of Robert A. Schaefer Jr.

Robert A. Schaefer, Jr. is a photographer working in the Cyanotype and other alt processes. His work is often inspired by architecture.
From: New Orleans, Louisiana.
Shows: Cyanotypes, Vandykes, Wet plate collodions and Uranotype.

Robert A. Schaefer, Jr. began learning about photography while he was studying architecture at Auburn University in Alabama, his home state, and continued to do so at the Technische Universität of Munich, Germany. In photography he became a visual explorer in love with layering with his work focusing on a prominent interplay between spatial planes and a central image. Visual layers are then added to that image with each layer being clearly visible but at the same time transparent.

After many exhibitions in Germany, Austria and France with gallery representation by Ufficio del Art in Paris, Schaefer moved to New York City in 1981. Since then he had a 25-Year Retrospective at the Huntsville Museum of Art in 2000. The Goethe Institute in Delhi, India hosted a one-person exhibition of his Cyanotypes in 2010, and he attended an artist residency in Barcelona, Spain in 2013. Schaefer moved to New Orleans in 2015 and has taught several Cyanotype Workshops including at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts in 2019. He still instructs on specific weekends during the year Cyanotype and Van Dyke workshops at Penumbra Foundation in New York City He was a guest teacher there and participated in a group exhibition at the Kirschman Arts Center in NOCCA. He is represented by the Fawkes Fine Art Gallery in New Orleans.

“Schaefer’s imagery of buildings, city scapes, even portraits is directly related to his studies and work in architecture. Printing with the Cyanotype Process imbues them with a slightly surreal nuance.”

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2 thoughts on “Robert A. Schaefer Jr.”

  1. Hi Tracey,
    Thank you for your interest. I put a white sheet of paper behind the glass before putting them in a frame for display. If I were going to have it back-lit, I would still want a sheet of milkglass the same size as the cyanotype with some sort of light source in back of that. The solution with paper is much easier, and I think it works well. Hope that helps, and please feel free to reach out should you have any additional questions.

  2. Please could you explain how you go about displaying cyanotypes on glass. For example do you place them against an opaque background or light them from behind? Thank you for your time.

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