Robert Sulkin (b. 1948) is a photographer living in Roanoke, VA. He is Professor Emeritus of Art at Hollins University, where he taught from 1980-2019.

Sulkin’s photography has been exhibited in solo, group, and juried exhibitions regionally and nationally. In 2019, a retrospective of his work Robert Sulkin, Photographs, 1973-2019, was held at the Eleanor D. Wilson Museum, Hollins University. His work was also the subject of the traveling exhibition Robert Sulkin, Photographs 1985-1995, sponsored by the Virginia Museum of Fine Art. In 2016, a feature story, “The Experimental Professor” appeared in Black and White Photography Magazine, Vol. 197.

In 2009, he was the recipient of a Professional Fellowship from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. His work has been exhibited at the Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, The Light Factory, the Chrysler Museum, college galleries throughout Virginia, the New Orleans Museum of Art, and 516 Arts, Albuquerque, NM., among others. In addition, he has received many awards in juried exhibitions throughout the country. Highlights include Best in Show in Photospiva, Joplin, MO 2008 and at the Academy of Fine Arts National Juried Photography Exhibition, Lynchburg, VA in 2013 and 2024; and on four occasions Sulkin has been one of five selected to receive the Qualex Award at the Photographic Image Biennial at the Wellington B. Gray Gallery, East Carolina University.

Sulkin holds a BA from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (1970) and an MA and MFA from the State University of Iowa.

Of his photography, Sulkin states:

“I once titled an exhibition Fact, Fiction, Life, Death and a lecture on my work A Failed Attempt to Understand the Universe. In many ways, a combination of these titles provides a summary of my 50 plus year experience in photography, which I would describe as a continuous exploration of things of which I might be curious, but hold no special knowledge. Using recycled mateials-junk off the street, specimen and old photograph collections, even my own vacation photos, I attempt to construct not easily explained realities, referencing science, nature, biology, astronomy, and mortality, the results of which often suggest uncertainty or angst.“