We recently had the chance to connect with Erica Robinson and have shared our conversation below.
Good morning Erica, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What makes you lose track of time—and find yourself again?
Dancing! I’ve always loved to dance but spending 20-years as a competitive swimmer then 8-years powerlifting, I didn’t have much time for another physical activity. Then in 2022 after finishing active treatment from a cancer diagnosis, I was craving a way to learn my new body. I’d lost interest in a strict gym regiment and desperately wanted to have some fun. So, I signed up for Salsa and Bachata, and then joined a women only dance studio that empowered women with no previous dance experience through dance fitness classes. The hour would go by so fast, I’d often stay for a double. I’d leave exhausted in the best way, each time removing myself a little more from my cancer trauma.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Erica Robinson, and Im a photographer and photography educator with close to 15-years in the industry. Ive worked in all different roles from wedding photographer to retail sales to cruise line photographer, and have spent the last 10-years as a field services specialist for Tamron USA. In 2022 I began a deeply personal project called Under the Pencil- a participatory portrait series where young women living with cancer write directly onto their own portraits, layering raw emotion over clinical language. This project was born out of my own breast cancer diagnosis in 2021 at age 34 and is the most meaningful work of my career. Since launching, I’ve collaborated with 25 women across different points in their cancer timelines, hosted an interactive in-person exhibit, and am now preparing for a second public event in 2026.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What was your earliest memory of feeling powerful?
Well, this story may not paint me in the greatest light but don’t judge an 8 year old to be the same now at 38. This moment was a mean childhood lesson that taught me about emotions my brain hadn’t yet developed.
My earliest memory of feeling powerful, or understanding that my actions had power, was maybe in elementary school, around 8 years old. I have a younger sister by four years, who had a favorite stuffed animal. I also had a neighborhood friend who was a bit of a bully, and me being an easily influenced young person I followed their lead a lot. I was convinced one day to play a prank and burry my sister’s favorite stuffed animal in our backyard. When she’d learned what we’d done and I saw her digging the stuffed dog out of the ground, sobbing, I knew I’d caused that pain. My sister was, and still is, my favorite person, and to know my actions could inflict that heart wrenching response, reshaped my entire character. In that moment I understood that I could use my power for good or bad and immediately chose good.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Natural success could never give me access to the dark yet beautiful parts of me that suffering has. Natural success would not have challenged me and without challenge there is no growth. After being diagnosed with cancer, I often heard, “you’re so strong”, “you’re so brave”, “cancer is a blessing”, and while I understood this common rhetoric was meant to be uplifting I found it profoundly demoralizing and dismissive. I was facing literal life or death and with survival mode activated I had a new superpower — I feared nothing else except cancer. There wasn’t time to give any other fear my attention. Forgetting lingering subconscious fears of judgment and failure I could prioritize myself, the people closest to me, my time, and create art that was honest and raw. This suffering wasn’t just for a minute, it was for many minutes. And being in that constant state forced me to reflect about myself and my place in the world. Yes it was painful, and at the same time it was freeing.
“Be open to who you actually are, not just who you want to be. Then actually love who you are.” – Sasha Wolf in an interview with Todd Hido
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
I am committed to my personal project, Under the Pencil, for as long as it lets me lead it. I was introduced to a quote recently in that same interview with Sasha Wolf and Todd Hido, said by Sister Corina Kent, who said, “Find a place you trust and then try trusting it for a while”. I have never believed more passionately in a project than I do this one. Probably because until this project emerged, I was blissfully unaware that I didn’t trust myself. Trusting this project means the permission to fully trust myself. That in combination with the women who have participated are the driving forces behind its evolution and have given me hope that its future is big.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
If I knew I only had 10 years left, Im not sure I would stop doing certain things, I can only assume I’d do more. I can imagine I would dance more, read more, notice the sun more, go for nighttime drives with the windows down more, swim in the warm ocean more, host my friends more, hold my love’s hand more, definitely foster dogs more. I know in reality that means I’d stop doing certain daily chores to prioritize time. I suppose if I knew I only had 10 years left, I’d stop being anxious about the future because it’s already set for me.
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.ericarobinsonphoto.com ; www.underthepencil.org
- Instagram: @ericarobinsonphoto
- Linkedin: Erica Robinson ; https://www.linkedin.com/in/erica-robinson-09563a74
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/1wjQhlz8x5Y?si=WwMXWUjYtNb8_JcX ; https://youtu.be/DMwIEjWCi-c?si=VbKsUAyySEv3N_f1
- Soundcloud: N/a
Image Credits
Erica Robinson
Heather Krut
Adam French
