I shoot people. I don’t care about who they think they are, who we think they are, who they think we should think they are, who we think they should think they are, or who we think they think we should think they think they are. None of it matters. What matters to me are the life lived, the moments between the moments, the glimmers of truth when the guard is down. What matters are the life presented, the tension between the comedic and the tragic, and ultimately cracking open the facade that hides the truth.
My extensive background in improvisational comedy taught me to examine the nuances of human behaviour. While teaching improvisation, I became interested in the work of psychologist Paul Ekman and began to incorporate his understanding of facial expressions and their relationship to emotion into my theatrical performances and teachings. The joy and spirit of improvisational comedy and the understanding of how faces exhibit, reveal and betray emotions, are still both integral parts of my work.
KPR (Kevin Patrick Robbins) was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada in 1973. He enrolled at Brock University in their Business Administration Entrepreneurship program with the hopes of starting a hip-hop record label. While at Brock, he began writing and taking photos for the university's weekly newspaper, The Brock Press, where he later became its Editor-in-Chief. He graduated in 1999 with a BA in Communication Studies.
That same year, while living in St. Catharines, Ontario, KPR began his post-graduate studies in Professional Screenwriting at Niagara College and improv classes at The Second City in Toronto. His love of improv quickly took over his life. In 2001, he founded a longform improv ensemble, The Impatients, and the Toronto International Improv Festival. He would later restructure the ensemble into a company and rebrand it as the Impatient Theatre Co.
At its peak, ITC had more than 100 performers. Since most people who get into improv start out as just your average person, he began photographing professional headshots for his company’s performers. After 12 years of running the ITC, Kevin shut down the company in July 2013. With no job, no prospects, and a full portfolio of acting headshots, he began his full-time pursuit of photography.
His background in improvisation and comedy lives on in his work. His portraits are infused with emotion, fun, and fleeting “you had to be there” moments that would be lost to time if not for the click of the shutter. His work has been commissioned for advertising campaigns, magazine covers, and personal clients.
In 2019, Kevin became a dual Canadian and Irish citizen. He currently lives in his hometown of Hamilton where he works from home.
