Born London, February 8, 1935. Died London, November 8, 2008, aged 73.
January 22, 2009 11:07In the course of a nearly 50-year career, photographer Ivan Robin captured royalty, celebrities and hundreds of Jewish simchas.
Brought up in Hackney, East London, he was hooked on photography after seeing a picture developed in a dark room. From Upton House School, he worked in the local Mand Studios.
After national service in the army, he worked in the basement of his parents’ Clapton home, printing out his own photographs. He booked his first wedding in 1956.
In 1957 he married Frances Grodner at Hackney Synagogue. They first met aged 11 at Clapton Talmud Torah cheder. Frances helped him in the business until he retired in 2000.
His first studio, in the busy Kingsland Road, Dalston, East London, was the Piccadilly Portrait Company, which he ran for 21 years. In 1975 he opened his Gants Hill studio, Photography by Ivan Robin, where he was joined by his son, Jeremy.
He was well known for his charity work, which included video and stills of children in the Florida and Paris Disneyworlds for the Wish Foundation, serving terminally ill children.
He also took striking pictures for Chabad, the outreach organisation of the Lubavitch chasidic movement. He became a Freeman of the City of London in 1988.
He always felt privileged to work with special people in beautiful surroundings and enjoyed the satisfaction of leaving them with treasured memories.
He is survived by his wife, Frances; son, Jeremy; daughter, Angela; and five grandchildren.