Artist: Robert Andy Coombs

Coombs grew up in Michigan’s majestic Upper Peninsula where he spent his childhood roaming the great outdoors. He started photographing his walkabouts in middle school and moved on to portraiture in high school. Coombs received a scholarship to Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids Michigan.

During his third year in undergrad, Coombs sustained a spinal cord injury due to a gymnastics training accident. After a year of recovery, he returned to KCAD and received his BFA in photography in 2013. Coombs graduated from the Yale School of Art with his MFA amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and is currently residing in coastal Alabama.

Coombs’ photography explores the intersections of disability and sexuality.
Themes of relationships, caregiving, fetish, and sex are depicted and explored throughout.

Tom of Finland Foundation Permanent Collection

Coombs’ work can currently be seen in Queer Lens: A History of Photography and A Homosexual Renaissance

Published: 1st July 2025

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