ROBERT HUMPHREYS
PHOTOGRAPHY
BIO
Rob Humphreys has built a body of work centered on connection. A San Francisco Bay Area–based photographer, cinematographer, and filmmaker, his work moves fluidly between documentary, narrative film, and commercial storytelling, always with an eye toward the moments that reveal something essential about who we are.
The foundation of Humphreys’ career was shaped through independent feature filmmaking, where he worked as a cinematographer on narrative films within the independent film community. During this early period, his work intersected with the creative world surrounding the Sundance Institute and the broader festival circuit, experiences that helped shape his character-driven approach to visual storytelling.
Over time, his work expanded into documentary filmmaking and broadcast production, where he continued exploring stories rooted in lived experience. His projects include the PBS series Design E2 as well as productions for PBS, National Geographic, Discovery Channel, and the History Channel, reflecting a long-standing interest in culture, environment, creativity, and the lives that unfold within them.
Alongside his documentary work, he has directed and photographed campaigns for companies such as LEGO, PlayStation, IBM, and Adobe bringing a cinematic and human-centered approach to commercial storytelling.
His films and collaborations have screened at festivals including Sundance, SXSW, Venice, the Hamptons, FESPACO in Ouagadougou, and the Zanzibar International Film Festival, with additional recognition for digital work through the Webby Awards.
In 2008, he founded a boutique production company, what has become Bobbin and Fly, a creative production company dedicated to developing documentary, fiction, and commercial projects grounded in visual storytelling.
At the heart of Humphreys’ work is a continuing curiosity about people and the threads that connect them across geography, culture, and time. This sensibility has found a natural resonance in his current collaboration with VideoArt Productions on a film about artist Hung Liu, whose work explored memory, migration, resilience, and the dignity of ordinary lives.
The emotional depth and humanity present in Liu’s paintings closely mirror many of the themes that have shaped Humphreys’ own photographic and cinematic work over the years — an enduring attention to the quiet universality of our common experience.
Recognition
Over the years, Rob's work has screened at a range of festivals and received a number of awards along the way. Grey won at the Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema. Invisibles received the Audience Award at the Oldenburg Film Festival. Dopamine premiered at Sundance and won there. Charlotte Sometimes won at SXSW, featured at Roger Eberts Overlooked Film Fest and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. Tre won at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. Les Saignantes received a Silver Lion in Ouagadougou and also the City of Torino Award at the Torino Film Festival. Illusion won at the Hamptons, Tahoe and Sonoma. Sky Burial won at Napa and Nepal. Documentary Photographer was nominated for a Webby. Americanese won both the Audience Award and the Special Jury Award at SXSW. Surrender Won at Zanzibar.