With a career which spans decades, Robert Zuckerman‘s keen eye is instantly recognizable in publicity / promotional shots on such movies as The Crow, Training Day, Transformers and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines – to name but a few of the projects in the talented photographer’s legendary back-catalog.
Mr Zuckerman’s artistic career has had him working with some of Hollywood’s most well-respected actors, shooting them in, and out, of character, in a bid to intimately capture both the essence of the role and the human playing their part.
The photographer made such an impression on the Terminator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger, whilst working on Terminator 3 that Arnold introduced Robert to former President Bill Clinton, as:
“This is Robert Zuckerman, the best photographer I have ever worked with.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger
T3‘s T-X, Kristanna Loken has stated that Robert Zuckerman is:
“one of the most inspirational humans I have ever met.”
Kristanna Loken Via Facebook
In 2003 a rare genetic disorder altered the trajectory of Robert’s career when he was diagnosed with adult polyglucosan body disease.
Adult polyglucosan body disease is described as:
“A rare, genetic disorder characterized by a deficiency of glycogen-branching enzyme, resulting in the accumulation of polyglucosan bodies in muscle, nerve and various other tissues of the body.”
Robert told the Guardian back in 2015 of the impact his health (or Hollywood’s view on it) had taken on his career:
“Hollywood in all its glory stopped calling me now I’m in a wheelchair, even though my photography’s better than ever. But that’s just life. I was forced to retire so I could get my pension and disability.”
Robert Zuckerman told the Guardian
Now Robert Zuckerman needs your help. The best way to explain the situation is to let Robert speak for himself:
Read the full transcript:
“Greetings friends, this is Robert Zuckerman, and um, I’m speaking to you from the Golden Glades Nursing Home in Miami Florida – where I’ve resided for the past… uh, now a little over two years, and prior to that I was in three other nursing homes. So, for total of the last three and a half years I’ve had to reside in nursing homes. Why? Because of a- complications of a rare genetic disease that I have, called adult polyglucosan body disease, uh that is, um, has made me paraplegic and affected other things internally in my body, and now that I am here I require full-time care – so that’s why I’m here. However, despite this, I still am responsible for supporting two people very close to me; my sister and my long-time significant other, who are both very health-challenged, and who, uh, you know, I’ve supported for the past uh… oh my sister, uh, over thirty years and my significant other over twenty years.
Robert Zuckerman via Youtube | Transcribed by TheTerminatorFans.com
So I’m asking for your help, uh, to help keep me going and- and be able to take care of my loved ones and also, in the meantime, I’m actually trying to figure out, uh, ways where I can monetize my vast photography archive that goes back forty-some odd years – forty-five years now, and when I do that, if I’m able to, then I won’t need to keep, hopefully, asking for help, um, but anyway that’s the reason and I really appreciate whatever you can do to help me out.
I’ve got some really good projects that, even though I’m disabled, I’m working on. Last year, during the pandemic, I did a really cool project where, even though I was bed-bound in a nursing home, I connected with people all around the planet, uh, via my iphone and make portraits of them and um, you can see any in progress, uh, slideshow of this project on Youtube. I’ll see if I can supply a link at the end of this recording or somewhere in here and I’ve also got a project that I’m working on for a restaurant that caters, and is designed fully, for people with physical disabilities. I’ll tell you more about that as we go along, but anyway for now – I really need this help and I really appreciate your considering and donating whatever you can.
Okay, that’s it for now. Thank you again, so much. Bye.”
To donate to Robert Zuckerman’s gofundme click HERE
