Robert Billington (b.1954)

Artists website | View artwork

Born in England in 1954, Robert Billington moved to Australia from the U.K. at the age of 18 with a Nikon F2 Camera as a method of recording his new life. Inspired by Mirella Ricciardis’ book Vanishing Africa, Robert set about becoming a professional photographer.

Working for the Elton Ward Photographic Studio (1980), Robert studied portraiture and the art of photography. In 1994, Robert won the prestigious Australian Photographer of the Year by the Australian Institute of Professional Photographers (AIPP). He then continued on to win over 100 medals in both Australia and England, winning the prestigious Hasselblad Masters Award twice (1988, 1992).

Whilst working professionally Robert continued to photograph personal fine art photographs, steering towards Black & White quirky street shots and the Australian landscape. Now some 25 years later the results of his photographic journals and art are now viewed on this website. His photographs are often dramatic and moody, some say theatrical, humorous and inventive, sometimes posed and studied, occasionally throwing caution to the wind in his pursuit of the beguiling and beautiful, clearly influenced by a knowledge of art.

With his young family in tow, Robert moved to Arcadia, North of Sydney in 1988. Robert started shooting images for his first book, Rustic Paradise. These shots captured a unique part of Australia. Arcadia was then a community largely untouched by the hustle and bustle of city life, and the images Robert created were humorous, emotional, quirky, and very Australian. Max Dupain hailed the book “a classic”. His list of publications has now grown to include nine books.

The images were quickly collected by both national and state galleries. In 2000 and 2001, the Museum of Sydney recognized his unique photographs with two exhibitions. Robert’s work has also been widely published and exhibited in New York, London, throughout Europe and included in the worldwide M.I.L.K exhibition.