About Me

My name is Robert O'Brien, I'm a photojournalist and designer currently based out of Houston, Texas. I started my career working for Texas A&M's student newspaper, The Battalion in June of 2021.

I started as a photographer and eventually became the chief of photography and photo editor. When I started as chief of photography, I inherited two barely functioning camera bodies and a handful of well-loved lenses. I oversaw the modernization of The Battalion's photo desk, involving the acquisition of more than $30,000 in new cameras, lenses, and other equipment to help our staff meet the modern standard of visual storytelling. I also oversaw the implementation of a new digital asset management system to ensure that the images we create as students will be accessible long after we leave.

In the summer of 2022 I transitioned to a role as the design editor where I led an effort to reinvigorate The Battalion's visual identity across our website, weekly print editions and special edition magazines. Our web presence received a much needed facelift and updates to its layout to encourage user engagement. We adopted a "design first" philosophy to our print productions by creating standardized page templates to be used interchangeably to maintain brand consistency and readability. Our magazine, Maroon Life, became a place for our writers, photographers, and designers to share feature-style content with a larger emphasis on visual presentation and creative storytelling.

In January of 2023, I took on a new role as the Photo Editor for The Aggieland Yearbook with the goal of increasing collaboration within Student Media at Texas A&M. This led to a strategic partnership between the photography departments of The Aggieland and The Battalion, and shared access between our image libraries. During this time I also spearheaded a project to create a Student Media digital photo archive. This involved spending hundreds of hours sifting through old hard drives, compact disks, and even a few floppy disks to create a single centralized image library for hundreds of thousands of images going back to the 1990s. Once all the photos were in one place I took on the project of updating the image metadata to insure that the authors, captions, and other important information would stand the test of time, and be easily searchable by future Student Media editors.

After finishing the 2023 Aggieland Yearbook, I moved back to The Battalion where I took on a role as the Audience Engagement and Social Media Manager. I oversaw an overhauling of our social media presence and visual style. In the first two months, we saw increases in user engagement of up to 250% on Instagram, as well as monthly follower growth increasing by nearly 300%, as well as increased clicks and page views on our website. I also began live-editing photos during major sporting events so that we could rapidly post to social media and our website.

I resigned from The Battalion in October 2023 to focus on school and my own personal projects. I was a semifinalist for the 2023 College Photographer of the Year, in the Sports Portfolio category. I am currently seeking either an internship or full-time position working in sports media or photojournalism.

I'm accepting new commercial clients and am available for assignments in Houston, Austin, DFW, College Station, and Waco. Send an email to bobby@robertobrienphoto.com to get in contact. 

Here's a small collection of photos of me at events