Growing up, Robb Hohmann Didn’t Play with Toys. He Took Them Apart
Always Ready Robb Hohmann
How long have you been behind the lens and what was your first camera?
My dad's Beseler Topcon. The camera was a Christmas present to my dad from his parent’s when he was sixteen. Around my 15th birthday, our family flew out to Phoenix, rented a van and drove through Vegas on route to LA . I rode in the very back of the van with all the luggage and during a long stretch of desert highway, I grabbed the Besseler out of my dad’s duffel bag and started messing around with it. My dad didn't seem to mind and from then on, I became the family photographer for the trip. A couple summers later, I saved up over $600 bucks working in an Eckerds Photo Lab and spent it all on a Canon Elan IIe, which I still have.
What do you love most about photography?
The mechanics of it. Even when I use a digital set up [a Leica M10, of course], I prefer the build quality and process of shooting an old-fashioned manual focus rangefinder. Nothing is automatic and you have complete control. It’s not easy and I like that.
I didn't play with toys growing up. I just took them apart. My grandparents would bring me their old appliances with the cords cut off. My dad was constantly pissed off at me because I’d dismantle his shit just to figure out how things worked. I’m a curious guy who loves machines and I’m into aesthetics. Photography lets me explore all those things.
Who are some of your biggest influences, photographers or otherwise?
Otherwise; probably my nephew— whose approval I eternally seek (is there anything more rewarding than the validation of a 15 year old?). He’s the kind of cool I’d wished I were at his age. He writes, directs and stars in short films and honestly, they’re really great. My niece makes all the previews. I admire them both a lot, for their creativity and bravery. Kids are built different now. They have the internet and compassionate parents. My sister and her husband done good.
On photography; I don't really have traditional influences. I never formally studied photography or photographers— but I do love to go to museums. I’ll wander around, see stuff and think, "oh that's cool." Some artists who come to mind include León Ferrari and Nam June Paik.
I like Raymond Carver a lot. I'd be happy to take a picture the way that man writes a short story. It makes sense Todd Hido’s images were acquired for some of Carver’s book covers. Similar vibe. Hido’s photos are cool, too.
When you aren’t behind the lens, what are you up to?
Riding around on any of my admittedly ridiculous stable of machines, or else working on them. I don’t know how anyone affords a vehicle who doesn’t do their own maintenance. The fact that I do is how I justify all my camera equipment, which is a ridiculous stable in it’s own right.
Most recently, I acquired a ‘77 Porsche 911S, and that’s taken up a lot of my free time lately. If the weather's nice, I’ll take to back country roads on my 1972 Honda CB450, 1978 BMW R100/7 or my 1978 Honda CB750. When the sky's are clear, I like to bop around in my 1998 Vans RV-4, which has a paint job a kin to a McDonald’s happy meal but boy does it go fast. I like to go fast.
I am a forty-something IT consultant living in rural northern Virginia. There are many manifestations of the mid-life crisis and this is my own.