ACC is deeply saddened by the recent passing of photographer, designer, professor, and world traveler Abby Robinson (ACC 1996) on July 13, 2024. Originally from Derby, Connecticut, Robinson received her BA from Barnard College and completed her MFA in Photography at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. She was a faculty member at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York City in both the BFA Photography & Video and Graphic Design & Advertising Departments for 47 years.

Robinson’s works were often informed by her early experience working as a photographer for a detective, adding mystery, curiosity, and wanderlust to her projects and worldview as an artist. One of her more recent pieces was Lamentation, an expansive grid of plywood photos serving as a record of New York City during the Black Lives Matter movement and pandemic shutdowns.

During her ACC Fellowship in the summer of 1996, Robinson traveled to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to undertake a teaching and creative residency with the Vietnamese Artistic Photography Association. Robinson’s images have appeared in publications such as The New Yorker, The New York Times, Photographers International, and F-Stop Magazine. She published articles in Asian Art News, the journal South Asian Popular Culture and the Trans-Asia Photography Review.


Abby Robinson, Lamentation, 2020. Photo by The Daring.

Our sincere condolences to Robinson’s family and loved ones. 

Headshot of Abby Robinson by Michael Todd.