"Just me, my camera, and my imagination."
My full name is Robert Sean Dibble, but I adopted the rSEANd moniker early as I never felt a true connection to my first or last name. I was originally named for my father, Robert Taylor Dibble, but have never been called anything but Sean, by friends or family.
I was born in Ohio, in a small town called Ironton, but never lived there. My parents were based in Washington, DC, but my mother returned to her hometown to have each of her 3 children. When I was 2 years old, we moved to Silver Spring, MD, which is where I grew up, and where my parents still reside.
My home life was one of continual support and encouragement. I had a string of long term relationships, the last being a 5 year union. That one, in particular, taught me a great deal about myself, and created the desire to strive for self-improvement, and to have more faith in my talents.
My father is a physician so I worked in the medical field for over 13 years, but never felt any affinity for it, as I was always more drawn to the arts. This led to jobs in the beauty industry, so I could learn more about skin care and make-up.
My first love was music and writing, which I had always been very passionate about. I loved being able to express myself through words and song, and it provided the first artistic outlet for me. My other passion was for animals and nature, and has resulted in a home full of pets, including a dog, cat, cockatoo, lovebirds, fish and amphibians.
When I was 14 years old, my sister, whom I was very close to, was approached by a modeling scout, but my parents would not allow her to do it, which crushed her. My mother had a Pentax camera which I picked up, telling my sister that I could photograph her, even though I had no idea what I was doing. She became my first muse, and awakened a new passion in me, to create images with a camera. 29 years later, this passion continues to grow. As a reminder of how it began and how far I've come, one of the first images I shot of my sister still hangs on my bedroom wall.
The first time I saw an image and said "that's what I want to do" was in 1983. It was a Versace ad in GQ magazine, with all these bold colors set against a warm brown backdrop, featuring these exotic looking men with dark hair and eyes. In 2007, I shot a model as a tribute to my first fashion inspiration. The photo appears in my Fashion Gallery.
The first photographer whose name I knew and considered a celebrity in his own right was Richard Avedon. I would carefully remove the covers off of magazines, or the pages inside that contained his work and keep them in a folder to admire and study. After this came Herb Ritts and Victor Skrebneski. The work of other photographers, in all genres, inspires me on a daily basis - Justin Monroe, Tony Gibble, Kingdom 19, David LaChappelle, Lalli, Lindsay Lozon, Rankin, Bruce Webber, Benno Thoma, John Healy, Klaus Gerhart, Steven Underhill, Jay Diers, Anthony Goicolea, Terry Richardson, Rundu, Tom Bianchi, Roy Stuart, Rudy K, Hot Snaps, Pedro Usabiaga, Andrew Mellick, David Vance, Greg Gorman,Justin Thai, Mario Testino, and so many others.
I am actually a very shy person, which people tend to disbelieve because I can often be the center of attention. Photography was an ice breaker and allowed me to interact, and in many cases, become friends with people that I would ordinarily not have much contact with. As a photographer, I have always been more personally drawn to the "every day man/woman", which I desribe as those guys/girls we see on a daily basis who are attractive, but have yet to discover their true potential. I refer to this as "attainable beauty", whereas it is captivating, sensual, and alluring, but does not create feelings of envy in others. When I would photograph them, I would often tell them that the resulting shots were my way of saying "this is how I see you," even if they had never before seen it in themselves.
There are times when I try to describe my particular style, but the only common denominator that I have come up with involves my tendency to focus on the eyes, regardless of the type of image I shoot. For me, the eyes and the emotion or expression contained within, is what brings the photo to life. I don't have a true studio, with the exception of a few backdrops, so I rely on natural settings, be it indoor or outdoor, as well as the model to make the image come alive. I often say it's just me, my camera and my imagination.
My dreams often involved success for others, as I never had enough faith in my own talents. I have realized a few of my dreams, including hearing my songs performed publicly by Coby Koehl, an incredibly gifted singer in NYC.
I made a promise to myself to take my photography more seriously this year, and this website is a result of that. It is merely a sample of what I have done over the years as my early work was 35mm film and I have not been able to transfer it to this digital format. I hope you enjoy my images and sincerely thank you for visiting my website.
-S e a n
Special Thanks to my current muses: NarcissisticHate, Diego Moran & A Lewis.