APW Rim Country Hybrid Meeting 7/17 – Jeff Robbins

Bio
I was the youngest staff photographer hired by the Los Angeles Times at age 22. I had been working for a local newspaper in Southern California for a couple of years. I was able to take numerous photo classes from top photographers. I had won numerous photo contests during my time there and after about 3 years with them, I heard of an opening at the Associated Press in Los Angeles.

I was hired by the head photo editor who asked me on the interview if I was better than when I had met him a year back. I told him I was and after looking at my portfolio was given the job as staff photographer for AP in Los Angeles. I worked in Los Angeles for about 5 years there covering all kinds of news events, doing some travel and was asked to help cover the returning POW’s from Vietnam in the Philippines in 1975. It was my first overseas photo assignment, and it was after a few years was asked to take the photo editor position in Bangkok, Thailand in 1978.

We moved to Bangkok, Thailand and was fortunate enough to cover major stories in Southeast Asia including 2 Pope trips, numerous coups and political deaths. I was the first American photographer to go to Kabul, Afghanistan after the Russians had killed an American ambassador and invaded the country. I was in Afghanistan for a week or so and returned to Thailand.

My biggest story in Thailand was the Cambodian refugee exodus from their country after Vietnamese invaded. It produced the largest refugee camp at the time called Khao-I-Dang. I covered this story from setting up the camp until refugees started to be sent to other countries including the US. It was there that I was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for one of my single photos and general coverage of the situation there.

After about 3 years in Thailand, the AP in New York decided my area of the world news wise was slowing down so they sent me to Central America as photo editor. I covered Nicaragua, Honduras, San Salvador and most of South America when I wasn’t busy. I lived in Costa Rica at the time and loved the people and the country although they had dangerous neighbors. I stayed in Costa Rica for a little more than a year and was then offered the position of staff photographer wherever I wanted.

AP wanted to open a one-man bureau in Phoenix so I took the job and established a working photo bureau there. I was supposed to be able to travel from Phoenix and did to places like Argentina, Columbia, Peru and Chili. However, a lot of my time was being taken up with setting up photo coverage throughout Arizona and my travel slowed down quickly as sports teams moved to Arizona. I ran the photo bureau till 1998 and retired with a very bad back and 6 surgeries. Carrying more than 100 pounds of camera and darkroom gear had taken a toll. Nowadays, carrying a lap top and one camera sure sounds good to me.

In Phoenix I was put on long term disability and finally retired in 1998 and moved to Payson more than 24 years ago. I still shoot photos and have won local photo contests but I mostly shoot with my cell phone now although I have a good digital camera available if I remember to keep its batteries charged.