Robby Müller (4 April 1940 – 3 July 2018) was a Dutch cinematographer. Known for his use of natural light and minimalist imagery, Müller first gained recognition for his contributions to West German cinema through his acclaimed collaborations with Wim Wenders. Throughout the course of his career, he worked closely with directors Jim Jarmusch, Peter Bogdanovich, Barbet Schroeder, and Lars Von Trier. His work earned him numerous accolades and admiration from his peers.
Müller often photographed the “blue hour” where artificial and natural light meet. “He was inspired by painters who used light the way Caravaggio and Vermeer did. I used to tease him that he should have been born in the same century as Vermeer,” Jim Jarmusch told the New York Times. “Robby would teach me things like, it says in the script that it’s a sunny day, but then on the day of the shoot it would be cloudy and about to rain. Most people would just say, OK, let’s not shoot today. Robby would always say, let’s think, maybe the clouds and the rain is better, let’s not be closed off, let’s be open to what we might do.”
He died on 3 July 2018, aged 78, having suffered from vascular dementia for several years. At the time of his death, he had taken around 2000 polaroids.
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| Camiel, Naaden, North Holland, Netherlands, 1977. |
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| Self-portrait in lamp, 1977. |
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| Austin, Texas, 1979. |
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| Winter Trees. |
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| Street. |
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| Hotel room. |
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| Hotel room. |
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| Hotel room. |
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| Brittany, France, while shooting ‘Les Ilesce, L’ile D’ouessant’, 1981. |
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| Los Angeles, 1984. |
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| Garden Munich, Germany, October 1984. |
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| To Live and Die, 1984-85. |
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| Kensington Motel, 1985. |
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| Kensington Motel, 1985. |
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| Baywater Hotel, during ‘Down By Law’, New Orleans, 1985. |
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| Santa Fe, Mexico, while shooting ‘Fool for Love’, 1985. |
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| New Orleans, 1985. |
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| Hilton 6th Ave, Manhattan, NYC, 1986. |
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| La Palma, Canary Islands, September-October, 1987. |
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| Memphis, while shooting ‘Mystery Train’, 1988. |
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| Self-portrait. |
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...he never did learn to focus a camera.
ReplyDeleteArf! I admire the talents of many of these photographers, but often I am reminded of a photo I turned out by accident. Although to be fair, I kept those, so I've completely contradicted my entire aesthetic argument. Whew, this is gonna take work. Rivets. Maybe glue.
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