About Rob
Photography: Kim Tonelli
The light was fading fast, and there I was — eighteen years old, stuck on a muddy roadside in the middle of the Borneo jungle, wondering where on earth I was going to sleep that night. Then, as if out of nowhere, an elderly woman from a nearby village appeared. She smiled, waved me over, and with a mix of hand signals and pure generosity, offered me a place to stay: a simple bamboo platform, raised just high enough to keep the snakes and centipedes at a respectful distance.
Lying there under a sky full of stars, I realised something important: real communication isn’t just about language. It’s about trust, instinct, and a bit of grit. That lesson has stuck with me ever since — especially on photo shoots, where thinking on your feet, staying creative, and rolling with the unexpected is all part of the job.
That early spirit of adventure never quite left me. It still pulls me back to the trails of Nepal, the windswept coasts of New Zealand, and the wild highlands of Tasmania.
To give all that teenage enthusiasm some proper grounding, I went on to study photography at RMIT, then learned the ropes in two of Melbourne’s busiest studios — working with some of the city’s top advertising agencies and creative teams.
By 1989, I felt ready to carve out my own path and opened 7Phoenix Studio. It quickly turned into a unique collaborative space filled with photographers, videographers, assistants, and designers. It wasn’t just a studio — it became a launchpad for all kinds of creative energy.
These days, I’m fortunate to be working alongside my good mate Ian van der Wolde. His studio has given me the room to get back to what drew me to photography in the first place: travelling and finding the stories tucked away in the wilder corners of the world.