Throughout his prolific career, Benjamin Franklin identified himself first and foremost as a printer, a creator of information. While Tobin's career has made him one of the leading brandists in the Southeast, he identifies first and foremost as a creator of images, a photographer.
The foundation of a brand is image. Since his first paid photography gig 1997, Tobin has been creating some of the most culturally distinct photography work in the United States. His work is featured by New York galleries; applied to national advertising campaigns by global agencies; and used as iconography by international companies and organizations.
Tobin began his career as one the leading northern photojournalists working in the Cartier-Bresson style linked to cinéma vérité in New York City and the upper Midwest in the years 1998 – 2010. His documentary work is a staple of well-regarded New York City documentary institutions. His work for New York City clients and publications took him from remote parks in the Bronx; to subway platforms on Coney Island; to Wall Street after 9-11; to the churches of Brownstone Brooklyn. His photography stands as one of the clearest documents of New York at the time it welcomed the new millennium to the world.
TR’s early work with Fader Magazine under London photo editor Eddie Brannon made groundbreaking documentary work with Black Cowboys in Brooklyn, New York. His relationship with The Federation of Black Cowboys and Sebastian Junger’s Chelsea photography gallery propelled him to various advertising and editorial work in Minnesota where he produced and photographed work for commercial clients like Target and Best Buy.
Work since 2010 includes photographing and promoting the work of Michael Stipe / Mike Mills of R.E.M., Jeremy Ayers, Kai Reidl, Neutral Milk Hotel, Olivia Tremor Control, Orange Twin, Vanessa Briscoe Hay / Michael Lachowski of Pylon, Powerkompany, Slingshot Festival and others.
Tobin produced and managed public relations, photography, and media for a series of art retrospectives in the years 2014 and 2015 in Athens, Georgia organized by a foundation under the banner “Art Rocks Athens.” These events spanned over years and included performances from modern dance to The Pylon Re-enactment Society, Love Tractor and Cindy Wilson of the B-52’s.
Tobin worked closely with Cindy Wilson, husband Keith Bennett and Wilson’s stylist D.A. Sims to produce fashion events based on B-52’s outfits in for the retrospective series, along with major painting, film, photography and fine art shows.