Robert Stiegler

Chicago-native, Robert Stiegler, was a photographer, educator, and filmmaker. Stiegler got his start in a darkroom at Lane Tech High School. At the recommendation of his photo teacher, Charles E. Cooper, he went on to attend the Institute of Design (ID) in 1956. He studied with the famed photography teaching duo, Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind, and his peers included Joe Jachna, Kenneth Josephson, Charles Swedlund and Ray Metzker. These students came out of the ID and went on to greatly influence the medium, whether through teaching, exhibiting, or publishing. After working for various photographers and joining the army, Stiegler returned to the ID in 1966 to obtain his Master’s in photography. He taught photography at University of Illinois, Chicago with close colleagues Joe Jachna and Wayne Boyer. Throughout the 1960s, 70s and 80s Stiegler had numerous film showings, exhibitions, workshops, and lectures. He received a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grant in 1980 and an artist’s grant from the Illinois Arts Council in 1983. His work was widely published and is included in the collections at Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Modern Art in New York and George Eastman House in Rochester, among many others. Stiegler taught and continued to make work until his death in 1990, giving him a relatively short but full career.