Old photograph and old medical books
8.8 x 13.8 cm
Robert Hall
Robert Hall works with found photographs, disrupting their surface with strange, unsettling interventions. He covers faces with masks cut from medical images, clusters of veins, gums, or decayed teeth, turning once-familiar portraits into something haunting and unfamiliar. In doing so, he creates a barrier between us and the subject, transforming these people from recognizable figures into ghostly presences.
In the Words of the Artist
Old photograph and old medical books
10.5 x 14 cmType image caption here (optional)
My art practice involves gathering and collecting old, found, vintage photographs and using them to create artworks. I spend many hours viewing these photographs and combining them with detailed medical images from old medical atlases. I describe my practice as bringing together old, lost moments in time and combining multiple sets of memories and emotions together for one new experience. It’s a mix of different human experiences from times forgotten.
Old photograph and old medical books
11.4 x 15.8 cm
My work is about what it means to be human. While some of the medical images used may evoke a sense of shock, that is never the objective. The graphic nature of these images stems from the fact that they depict real individuals, possessing emotions and feelings like those depicted in the vintage photographs. My hope is that the viewers can also find beauty within these images.
The themes of love and life also run through my artwork. Each individual depicted in the images was once a living person with their own struggles and dreams. These emotions and feelings are universal to all individuals and evoke a sense of relatability.
Ultimately, I try to create a human connection. By seeing my work, I hope viewers will find a sense of shared humanity and an appreciation for the complexity of our lives. Each collage is a tribute to the experiences that define us, and even in sadness and darkness, beauty and love can be found. In a world that often feels chaotic, my art invites the viewer to pause and to celebrate the moments of life, love, and death that connect us all. Other themes I also work with include world events, such as politics and war.
Old photograph and old medical books
7.9 x 10.2 cm
Old photograph and old medical books
8.8 x 13.8 cm
Collage, to me, is an expressive art form that brings together moments of time and distinctive visuals. It is a creative process that involves the combination of old, vintage, and found elements to form a new, unique artwork. In particular, when combining old photographs with detailed medical images, collage becomes an exploration of human experience and history. Collage is a powerful medium that invites us to find connections from the past and feel real emotions.
In the practical sense, I love how collage has no rules. It can cross genres, times, and themes. I love that the materials used in collage are real materials that once existed in a different time, and in a lot of cases, unless collaged with, would never be seen again. For example, old lost photographs that are destined to be lost forever are now there for the world to see in a new form.
My process is pretty chaotic. I always try to start neatly and end up a few minutes later with paper and materials absolutely everywhere. Sometimes a piece comes together really quickly, while others take hours and hours, sometimes days. I try my best to find good matches when collaging. I can sometimes create a piece without committing to gluing, stare at it for a while, decide I don’t like it, and then scrap it and start fresh.
Old photograph and old medical books
8.7 x 13.2 cm
Old photograph and old medical books
10.3 x 15.3 cm
About the Artist
Robert Hall is a collage artist from Birmingham, England. His work combines together the layers of existence using the unique appearance of vintage photographs and detailed medical images. These elements serve as a gateway into the exploration of life, love, death, and what it means to be human.
Through his art, he strives to create a visual narrative that connects the past with the present, inviting viewers to reflect on the complexities and beauty of the human experience.
For Your Viewing Pleasure
What to watch, read, and experience, as curated by the Collé team.
MARISA BAZAN is a Latina artist based in Brooklyn, NY, working in analog collage and film photography. Her work blends vintage imagery with personal narrative, often exploring themes of femininity, duality, and resistance.
ALEXANDRA ROBERTA is a multi‑disciplinary artist blending art collage and 35 mm photography to breathe new life into vintage campaign imagery. Her work—rooted in her studies of architecture and interior design
BAD ET BOUGIE is a collage artist whose work fuses sharp wit with layered imagery, creating playful compositions. Their practice reimagines everyday fragments into striking visual narratives.
VERKNIPTS is a collage artist whose practice layers fragments of art history, anatomy, and popular imagery into uncanny hybrid forms. Their work thrives on stark juxtapositions, disrupting coherence and revealing strange new identities.
RAPHAËL VICENZI, best known as Mydeadpony, is a self-taught artist from Brussels, Belgium, whose illustration and watercolour techniques are highly influenced by fashion, street art, and graffiti.
Out and About
What to watch, read, and experience, as curated by the Collé team.
▼ READ
David Alekhuogie Sees Blackness at the Core of Modern Art
In his project “A Reprise,” the photographer remixes Walker Evans’s images of African sculptures—and poses bold questions about what we consider fake or original, art or archive.
▼ VISIT
Bulletin: Angel Otero - Ursula
For our latest installment of Bulletin—Ursula’s recurring feature that focuses on artists’ bulletin boards, the casual image banks they assemble for inspiration, we visited the painter Angel Otero in his Brooklyn studio.
▼ LISTEN
Baby Doll and the Dolphin Burger
by Drug Free America
An archival release from the band Drug Free America, the side project of Brian Moss and the late Steve Dixon. Active from 1987–1997, the group leaned industrial early on, but these tracks offer something different. Now on vinyl for the first time.
