Robert Altman (photographer)

Altman suffered from esophageal cancer and died on September 24, 2021. A cause of death is pending.

In May 2010, he was presented with a Doctor of Arts, Honoris Causa, from Digital Media Arts College.

During the summer of 2009, Altman collaborated with Macy's Herald Square in New York and filled most of the store's 49 windows with 175 images of his work as part of their "Art Under Glass" series.

He was soon hired as a photojournalist by Rolling Stone magazine. Here he was able to capture shots of the Rolling Stones while in the recording studio, and also captured shots of artists such as Joni Mitchell and Iggy Pop at music festivals. He found that being a photographer opened doors to places where others were not allowed, and he was able to closely follow the stars and capture images that immortalised the 1960s culture. Following his early success as chief staff photographer for Rolling Stone he expanded into fashion photography and fine art. He became a television producer/director for KEMO-TV, an independent station in the San Francisco Bay Area. For a decade beginning in the mid-1990s, Altman taught web design and photoshop as adjunct professor for several institutions including San Francisco State University and the University of California, Berkeley.

"The Sixties: Photographs" is a point of reference for Acid culture, Summer of Love, Rock, and Flower Power generation. This collection of photographs portrays iconic musicians, celebrities, rock stars and fans together. Altman's work captures the free flow atmosphere of this 1960's time period. His exploration in this collection book compliments Woodstock, and all the unique, emotion that it consisted of.

Altman's work consists of presenting what is bare, raw, and natural to the viewer. The 1960s was a decade filled with protest, revolutionary ideologies, and freedom. His style of work presents experience. The livelihood of the Hippie Movement displayed simply through the photographic composition that Altman has learned from Ansel Adams.

When asked to compare today's society with the 1960s, Altman replied:

Robert Mark Altman (October 10, 1944 – September 24, 2021) was an American photographer. Altman attended Hunter College at the City University of New York and studied psychology and anthropology. Initially he had no intention of becoming a photographer, and said that the camera he wore around his neck was essentially just a prop to "meet girls". However, after graduation, he opened a shop called the Electric Lotus and displayed some of his photographs on a notice board here. The reaction here was so positive that Ansel Adams ended up taking him on as a photography apprentice.