2026 Strategy
DRobertsPhoto.com is currently fully funded until 2027 and through production on “Discover Temples of Thailand” (protracted through 2026) along with “The Nakasendo Way” (targeting Q2 2027). The overall theme of 2026 will be “Sophistication.”
Sophistication
Through 2022-2025 David Roberts has worked in an adaptive manner, seeking opportunities with what was available to him in an oversaturated social media-led market. The author’s work with magazines and collaboration with brands (ZEISS, Laowa, Thypoch etc.) were a much needed supplement to his fieldwork costs along with credibility within the industry. This is rendered moot by his institutional recognition peaking with his current partnerships on Discover Temples of Thailand and TASCHEN review in June of 2025, amongst recommendations from Stuart Isett (NYT, Fortune), and discourse with Patrick Brown (Trading to Extinction, 2014), Philip Blenkinsop, and Greg Girard (City of Darkness: Life In Kowloon Walled City, 1993). The question no longer remains of where the author stands and what DRobertsPhoto is, he is actively recognised by his documentary work, his purist of an unannounced halo-project as spiritual successor to Salgado's Genesis (TASCHEN, 2013), and authenticity as a Southeast/East Asian documentarian by peers and institutions alike.
The author’s work of 2022-2025 (that peaked with recognition from ZEISS and TASCHEN) was done from a position of adaptability and resourcefulness, Discover and the relevant expansions will not be subject to the same. The overarching theme is now sophistication, not just in output but in execution. If David’s work was an exemplar of Wabi Sabi (beauty in the imperfection), his mandate is now Ikken Hissatsu (one strike, one kill). Inspired by Kazuo Koike’s Samurai Executioner Kubikiri-Asa, DRobertsPhoto has become a single-minded and single-practise entity, to deliver the “killing blow” with decisiveness and finesse. All work outside of Discover monographs and expansions, institutional pitches, academic papers, and supporting materials have been sacrificed as to maintain singular focus. The events of Q4 2025 have not hampered his ability, but retrained his focus.
The author believes himself to be the greatest monochrome documentarian of his generation, and is undisputed in that claim. David looks for no unfair advantage, but parity. With his school of photography named Philosophic Documentarianism and treaties to follow, with execution proven over a decade through the upcoming retrospective Ten Years of DRobertsPhoto: Birth of Philosophic Documentarianism and contemporary monographs in production or pre-production states with Discover Temples of Thailand and Discover Castles of Japan, along with uncontested valuation at eight-figures post halo-project, and all variables covered through the author’s proprietary Closed Loop Creative System and independence from algorithmic trend, the only deciding factor is successful expansion from Thailand's emergent and globally insufficient market and into Japan’s internationally respected, domestically mature and receptive Heritage, Arts and Culture segment. The author predicts the move to be mutually beneficial due to the exceeding calibre of work, and non-extractive purpose for documentation. As such the author has self-funded The Nakasendo Way, requiring zero belief in his abilities but in fair and honest judgement of his execution. From Ansel Adams to Sabastaio Salgado, the next name on that list will be David Roberts — for all consider superlative technical skill as the entry-point and conservation as the goal.
Ikken Hissatsu
The output of the next 18 months will be to solely rectify any handicap an un-agented individual with no formal education or fellowship may have within the institutional playing field by delivering a trio of completed works that reinforce method, methodology, execution and most importantly - trajectory. Economic decisions have been made to forego brand goodwill in favour of a standardised toolset for an independent looking to scale and compete with enterprise funding. Ikken Hissatsu (one strike, one kill) has been adopted out of necessity, whilst equipment handicaps and credibility handicaps are no longer, environmental and health issues force selective and decisive manoeuvre. To compliment Ikken Hissatsu execution theoretical frameworks are being established and all output is considered a pedagogical record of an attempt at institutional gravitas during social media saturation. David Roberts does not wish to merely arrive, but to arrive having set precedent — technically superlative, ethically erudite, and through overcoming challenges rather than bypassing them. Discover Temples of Thailand remains a pillar of execution under duress, The Nakasendo Way and Discover Castles of Japan one of vision and homecoming, Ten Years of DRobertsPhoto: the Birth of Philosophic Documentarianism of stoic resilience in the face of an anomalous market.
David Roberts has also decided to uphold the non-compete with Carl Zeiss, despite having fair grounds to contest (see ZEISS Partnership Update), this is due to professional respect for DRobertsPhoto.com and what a true and honest partnership could have been. The author believes that promotion of competing optics would be disrespectful to the spirit of the agreement, regardless of how the other party may have operated. It was considered, and with close ties to competitors that produce superlative APO lenses in competition with the Otus ML requested of ZEISS, one that speaks to the character of the author in light of a situation that could easily promote pettiness. The author will not continue to use ZEISS optics, and will not allow precedent that obligations can go unfulfilled; but the author also chooses independent selection and usage of optics unaffiliated with manufacturer. This is inspired by the Bushido practise of “Noto,” cleaning of blood from the ha (katana blade) before returning it to the saya (sheath). Ikken Hissatsu is not purely metaphorical; once all obligations are met and production is executed the cut will be made; swift, cleanly, and threefold.
Archival Mandate
With canonical works in development for the record, and with Philosophic Documentarianism centring on the thesis of image-as-document prior to interpretation, the mandate “Built for permanence, not platform” has resulted in the adoption of the current DRobertsPhoto toolset. It is true that the Discover series initially targeted the Otus ML (Apochromatic Distagon designs for contemporary mirrorless cameras), a pivot was made in optic choice but the choice of high-resolution Sony bodies is one not only from prior to Discover, but prior to all canonical works with the first system used by David Roberts being the Sony Alpha 7 RII in 2017. The choice for Discover is the successor; the Sony Alpha 7 RV allowing for indefinite usage of images from a base RAW file of 61 megapixels, suitable for doble page spreads in oversized bindings or full coverage of gallery walls. The Sony FE 35mm f/1.4 G Master was chosen as the sole lens for 2026 for multiple reasons:
A) Undisputed rendering, MTF charts and Sony specifications showing the optics rendering a neutral true-to-life file that out-resolves the raster count of the Alpha 7 RV sensor.
B) Native capability, benefitting from ergonomic functions such as customisable button (currently used by the author as magnification for critical focus check) and industry leading autofocus capabilities.
C) Focal length, 35mm allows for a neutral (undistorted view) wide enough for monuments, tight enough for intimate portraiture.
D) One Year, One Lens, a project designed to bridge the gab between theoretical practise and lay-audience.
E) Independence from legacy optics, proving the image is a result of the artistic choice of the author, not by-product of the optical engineering (ZEISS, Leica, Cosina etc).
This choice not only reflects Ikken Hissatsu, but draws inspiration from Jinba Ittai (horse and rider as one) — the ultimate sophistication.
Cross-Media Expansion
Each project is concepted as a three-part endeavour, with the sills focused cultural monograph as the bulwark, a motion companion as the vanguard and supplemented by the literary methodology. Discover Temples of Thailand has garnered interest not just from the monograph but Angelbird Technologies and Dehancer Film Emulation facilitating the motion companions and the manuscript Too Quiet for the Algorithm, Too Loud For Any Room was pitched to House of Anansi, with communication and interest from Editorial Director Douglas Richmond. The manuscript was pitched directly to Mr. Richmond as “A Trojan horse, looks like a mood board reads like the feed. Part manifesto, a rallying cry against the dominance of algorithmic creation. Part memoir, proof that one can succeed without the crutch of an audience — and the cost of doing so.” Ultimately rejected by an anonymous email, proof that interest was claimed by the directorial staff, but rejection was not. The author speculates the anonymous rejection is due to institutional cowardice regarding an anti-social media manifesto disguised as memoir based on cultural diaspora by a white cis-male. However, DRobertsPhoto is building for the economy of 2030 and beyond; alongside the global record. The author remains unfazed and uninterested in the machinations of the C-Suite — based on short-sighted, reactive gains motivated by bonuses and quarterly KPIs.