Besides being a pioneering staged photograph, the composition is unique as well. A five-inch cutout appears to be monumental. The subject fills the pictorial space from the bottom to the top. It dominates the vast beachscape and dwarfs the life-size figures to the lower right. By photographing a reproduction of a person on paper, Funk pushes the boundaries of portraiture in 1977. Robert Funk is a pioneer of Staged Photography. The work is signed, numbered 3\\u002F15, dated and titled lr. printed later, unframed, Printed on Hahnemühle Fine Art paper br Robert Funk is a pioneer of toy, doll, miniature, plastic thingies and staged photography. He also photographs his own paintings. Most of his work is done on location. He does not use photoshop to strip in images. He doesn’t take photographs he creates photographs and has works dating from 1973. He was widely published in the 1970's and early 1980's. As an undergrad in painting, he studied with first-generation abstract expressionist Robert Richenburg and hyper-realist painter Janet Fish and then in Graduate School for Art History with famed critic E.C. Goossen. He went on to work as a Photographer, New York Advertising Art Director, and Art Collector.