Sonar

My name is Robert Wilde. I used to be a spy.

At least that's what the communist Hungarian secret police were thinking when they arrested me, sixteen, with camera in hand, as a suspected American spy. That was before teenage secret agents invaded Hollywood.

I probably am quite often with my work where people aren't thinking I'd be because my key idea of creativity is that something truly original always comes with a moment of surprise.

How did a sixteen-year-old happen to face communist secret police? Well, I grew up in Vienna, Austria - where bitter masochism and the sweet Sacher tart was invented by the same man, Leo Sacher-Masoch.

I also completed my university studies there. I specialized in studying how art shapes a our world perception.

After living in Paris and Berlin I arrived in Los Angeles to become the fashion photographer and filmmaker I am today. I arrived with two suitcases, filled with my love of Renaissance culture and Science Fiction, Detective stories and classic film--

"Cut! No long lists! Get to the point where you are in LA and what you do for your fashion clients!"

"How many words?"

"20!"

"My God, you are tough today! How about 25?"

"Stop negotiating! Finish the story!"

I'm a world citizen, and any fashion company is a world citizen as well. There are so many stories, so I start with one for my clients, one that is visually absolutely theirs. That engages. Then I'll tell another. It has to come from experience and from the heart.