Robert Yarnall Richie was born on July 20, 1908 to Quaker parents, Elisha Roberts Richie and Anna Sweltser Wood in Moorestown, New Jersey. Photography was a hobby for Richie when he was a boy. He developed an interest in flying and got his pilot’s license in 1928. Although he knew little about it, he started his professional career in 1932 at the age of 23 with aerial photography, which was at the time something of a novelty. Initially, pay was relatively low for his photographs, but Richie’s work soon became in demand, and by 1938, he was called, "…one of the foremost industrial photographers in the world."
From the beginning, Richie was creative in his approach to business. During the early 1930s, many of the wealthy spent winters at their Palm Beach, Florida estates and summers at their million dollar mansions in Newport, Rhode Island. Richie spoke to the editor of Town & Country magazine about commissioning a piece called the "Landed Gentry from the Air." It was a good opportunity for the enterprising young photographer to get the start he was looking for.
Richie soon recognized that profit in photography came from repeat business. He also decided to diversify, particularly into advertising and industrial photography. Richie initially used an aerial camera with 5 x 7-inch roll film and sometimes a smaller format camera using 120, 116 or 616 film. Later, he acquired a Linhof 4 x 5-inch view camera with several lenses of different focal lengths – sometimes 165 to 275 pounds of equipment to carry on assignments. One of his earliest commercial clients was Corning Glass Works. Life magazine reviewed his work in 1940, "Never a news photographer, his keen interest in industry which he believes offers the greatest field for human-interest and dramatic photography, keeps him traveling from one end of the country to another."
Richie produced his first film in 1939 while in Colombia on an assignment for Fortune magazine. He produced over 300 films during his lifetime. Richie continued to develop a career in making commercial stills and motion pictures. In 1941, he purchased a Culver Cadet monoplane enabling him to cover projects world-wide. During World War II, at 36 years old, Richie was considered too old to join the military. He remained busy, however, as US industry boomed. He often worked for Fortune, Life, Scientific American, The American Magazine, Time, National Geographic and other magazines, in addition to illustrating annual reports for Fortune 500 companies including General Motors, U.S. Steel, Gulf Oil, Phelps Dodge, and Dresser Industries among many others. Richie further branched out into shooting oil production images in such areas as Texas, Louisiana, the Gulf of Mexico, and Saudi Arabia. Richie expressed a preference for oil work, "There’s drama in steel, but there’s more romance in oil," he said, "oil has so many different angles to it as an industry. Oil really has a story to tell in pictures."
As a pioneer in the field, he excelled in making artistic views of corporate industrial subjects in a mid-century modernist style. Richie often took unusual angle shots creating dramatic photographs of what could have been mundane subjects.
Richie was married three times and had six children. Robert Yarnall Richie never retired and passed away in 1984 at age 76.
Selected Publications:
Selected Robert Yarnall Richie citations for photographs published in periodicals and magazines and annual reports for numerous clients.
Harry Botsford, "Key to the Oil Treasure," Steelways (January 1947)
T. Huntington Chappell, "The Hotchkiss School, American Schools No. 6," Town & Country, vol. 88, No. 4105, June 1, 1933, pp. 24-27
Jack Gilles, "In view of the length of the flight ---," The Sportsman Pilot, vol. 12, no.2, August 15, 1934, pp. 6-9, 39-41, 43 and cover
"His Camera earns over $500 a day," Popular Science (January 1952): 192-195, 228
"His Camera Busy Dramatizing Industry," Newark Evening News, May 20, 1940
"The Incredible Barco," Fortune, March, 1940, p.76
"Life’s Pictures," Life, vol. 4, no. 3, also cover and oil article, pp. 28-36, ca. 1940
"Oil Offers More Romance Than Steel, Says Photographer," The Duncan Eagle, Dec. 14, 1938
"Our Airman Flies Low Over the Palacios of Tropical Palm Beach," Town & Country, vol. 89, No. 4120, January 15, 1934, pp. 34-37
Phillips Petroleum Company, Life, January 1937, cover
"Robin Sherwood," Fortune, July, 1941, cover
"Robert Yarnall Richie: A top man in a tough field, Bob Richie knows and thinks industry, will tackle any project anywhere and at any time." Photo Methods for Industry, vol. 2, no. 11 (November 1959): 46-49; 89-90.
"Shooting the unshootable. How to photograph both the Statue of Liberty and the Verranzo Narrows Bridge in one shot, and make history in the process," Industrial Photography, undated
T. J. Maloney, editor, U.S. Camera. 1943 . New York: Duell, Sloan & Pearce, 1942: 84-85.
"Texas Tanks," Life, (January 17, 1938) cover
World Petroleum (January 1937) cover
From the guide to the Robert Yarnall Richie photograph collection [Part 1] Ag1982. 0234, Ag1982. 0234x., 1932-1975, (DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University)
