Frerck, Robert (was created by)
Robert Frerck was born in St. Louis in 1943. He studied art and graduated from Washington University in 1966. It was around this time that Robert first traveled to Spain and was inspired by the artwork and culture he discovered in Seville, Cordoba, and Granada. Upon returning to Chicago, he enrolled in graduate studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and later at the Illinois Institute of Technology, studying design, photography, and film and finding a strong connection between his work and the design work he had seen in Spain.

While at IIT, Robert completed a number of experimental films, including “Nebula 1,” “Nebula 2,” and Phaethon, which were shown at experimental film festivals around the United States and Europe. “Nebula 2” was also included in a John Cage performance called HPSCHD performed at UIUC and in the TV series “The New Filmmakers,” narrated by Peter Fonda.

“Stella” was produced as Robert’s thesis film for Charles Sharp’s filmmaking class at IIT. The 16mm film documents the life of Ray Slupik, captain of the ship Stella and the last commercial fisherman in Chicago. The film features the Stella sailing along the Chicago River and Ray and his crew fishing on Lake Michigan.

After graduating from IIT with a Master's Degree, Robert traveled again to Spain and Morocco for three months to study the Moorish Culture. He returned to Chicago for three years to work for Goldsholl Associates and produce documentary and commercial films, expanding his knowledge of animation and writing in the process.

In 1973, Robert left Goldsholl Associates to pursue his idea for a documentary about the influence of Moorish culture on Spanish culture and architecture/design. He and a friend (acting as translator and camera assistant) traveled in 1975 through Southern France, Spain, and Morocco. They worked on a shoestring budget for four months, living and traveling in a VW van and shooting on location with rare access to landmarks such as the Great Mosque in Cordoba, the Alcazar Palace in Seville, and the Alhambra palace in Granada. Additional footage was shot for four more films, focusing on the cities of Granada, Cordoba, Toledo, and Seville, but the projects were abandoned. Instead, the footage was incorporated into one longer film, titled "Al Andalus" and finished in 1976.

After finishing “Al Andalus,” Robert decided to put behind documentary filmmaking in favor of more opportunities to travel. He founded the stock photography company Odyssey Productions in 1977 and took travel assignments from magazines such as Time, Newsweek, Travel and Leisure, The Smithsonian; United, Pan Am, and Eastern Airlines Inflight Magazines; National Geographic and Geo Magazine, and others. During this time he traveled for an average of 8 to 10 months a year and eventually worked in nearly 60 countries. Robert’s work also included extended educational projects in India, Africa, and South America, as well as several years spent shooting underwater photography with a marine biologist.

In 1992, Robert incorporated four years of travel photography in Spain into the book “Eternal Spain,” which featured panoramic images of Spanish landscapes and traditional architecture and lifestyle. The book was used by the Spanish Ministry of Tourism as their promotional book during the 1992 World’s Fair in Seville and Barcelona Olympics. “Eternal Spain” led Robert to create another book, “Eternal Mexico,” in 1996, which received the “Lente de Plata” award for photographic excellence from the Mexican government. A third book set in Turkey was planned in the late ‘90s, but fell through due to changes in government.

Robert’s most recent projects have taken him to the Southwestern United States, Mexico, and South America. He currently lives in Canada with his wife and two daughters.