Robert F. Perrin

Bob Perrin, a noted cinematographer, photographer, producer and filmmaker whose work on 1999’s “The Farm,” a documentary about Louisiana’s brutal State Penitentiary, Angola Prison, won an Emmy and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary, died on November 9th 2021 from a glioblastoma brain tumor, at the home of his daughter, Elizabeth Perrin, in Columbia Mississippi.

Bob’s final trip to a cemetery will be far from his first. Although he led a quiet and unassuming life in a modest home in New Orleans, Bob was in almost constant demand as a cinematographer or camera operator for the BBC for whom he traveled the country and the world, and while on the road would use any spare time to visit cemeteries. On his cemetery sorties he was always accompanied by “my Leicas,” still cameras with which he documented gravestones and graveyard details in black and white photographs that manage to poetically portray the inner lives of the cemeteries’ interred inhabitants.

The life and light that shines through what at first glance seems like a morbid subject is a fitting metaphor for Bob Perrin himself. Most interactions with Bob would begin with a summation of a worst-case scenario of the moment, be it the state of the city, the health of his dog, the prospects of his beloved Tulane baseball team, or any of a range of political, personal or societal issues which he was acutely adept at skewering. But beyond the cynicism it didn’t take long in any conversation to discover Bob’s deep love of poetry, his appreciation of art and literature, his support of all kinds of artists, and an-ever simmering sense of humor that would irrepressibly bubble to the surface in the form of a wry observation accompanied by a broad grin and twinkling blue eyes.

Robert Farrell Perrin was born in New Orleans in 1936. He attended Tulane University where he met and married Newcomb College student Mary Frances (“Faffee”) Thomson and played on the Tulane basketball team. Bob remained passionate about sports and was an athlete throughout his life. He was an avid cyclist, a lifelong pastime curtailed only by his recent terminal medical diagnosis.

In 1958 Bob became Private Perrin. Although nominally a private in the US Army, Bob traveled throughout Africa and the Middle East from a base in Eritrea as a member of the US Special Forces and spent The Cold War decoding and transmitting messages in Morse Code.

After an honorable discharge from the military in 1961, Bob embarked on his film and photography career in Alabama, at the Mobile Press Register. Returning to New Orleans, Bob worked at WVUE and then WDSU where he became chief cameraman before starting his career shooting documentaries for the BBC and news footage for every major outlet in the US including NBC, CBS, ABC, HBO, CNN and Fox under the banner of his own production company, Perrin Productions.

Bob didn’t see a connection between his work as a documentarian and his passion documenting cemeteries. In 2019 he told The Quarterly, “I don’t feel my (photography) work is documentary. I’m not pursuing reportage in these photographs as I had been throughout my cinematography career.” But he did see a connection between his cemetery photographs and poetry. “Sometimes I’ll take a photograph then later read a poem and discover that the symbols and themes within my photograph also occur in the poem. I can’t explain it but I often find synchronicity and commonality between my work and poetry.”

After 57 years of marriage and the death of his first wife, Bob moved from New Orleans to Boulder, Colorado where he married the Rev. Mary Hardy.

Bob leaves behind a legacy of moving images documenting the extremes of human existence and a lifetime’s collection of black and white stills of cemeteries. “Death, the great mystery,” Perrin said, “is woven throughout my entire body of work. We’re given one brief slant of light - between our preexistence and our deaths... The more you look the more you see the mysteries of life. You could say it’s become my obsession.”

Bob Perrin was preceded in death by his first wife, Mary Thomson Perrin; father, Beverly Pierre Perrin; mother, Dorothy Maude Perrin; sister, Gail Perrin Blank Keenan; and brother, Beverly Easton Perrin. He is survived by his loving daughter Elizabeth F. Perrin of New Orleans and Columbia, MS and her partner Tac Carrere; Rev. Mary Hardy of Boulder, CO; and a host of nieces, nephews, friends and loyal Tulane fans.

Bob will be laid to rest at a graveside service on December 2nd 2021 at 10AM at Metairie Cemetery, Avenue R. Hathorne Funeral Home in Columbia and Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home are in charge of arrangements. All family and friends are welcome to attend. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Bob’s favorite charity, Tulane Green Wave Club, baseball team.

The family invites you to share your thoughts, fond memories, and condolences online at www.lakelawnmetairie.com