In Clarkesdale Robinson is said to have been somewhat shy and reclusive, often choosing to stay at home and paint and draw rather than socialize with peers.
Late in 1946 Robinson left Clarksdale to attend Tulane University in New Orleans, initially planning to pursue a career in medicine.
He frequented Dixie's Bar of Music,[2] a Bourbon Street club which was a center of the New Orleans gay community in the 1950s and 1960s,[3] and hangout of artists and writers such as Lyle Saxon, Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, and Gore Vidal.
[4] During this period he refined his talent as a photographer, capturing portraits of notable figures of the southern bohemian art and culture scene in New Orleans, and documenting the gay community's involvement in Mardi Gras.
[6] In the summer of 1954 Robinson travelled to Mexico with Betty Parsons (the famous New York art dealer), Dusti Bongé[7] (Abstract Expressionist painter), and his partner Gabriel Juridini, and photographed scenes of Mexican life.
It was at Vogue that Robinson photographed many of his most famous subjects including Elton John, Joni Mitchell, Jack Nicholson, and Cher.
After Vreeland was fired from the magazine and his partner Gabriel suddenly passed away, Robinson's once steady flow of work had slowed to a trickle by the end of 1972 .
Newsweek magazine covered the show and printed a two-page spread that featured six photographs: one by Richard Avedon, two by Irving Penn, one by George Hoyningen-Huene, one by Edward Steichen, and one by Jack Robinson.
They wrote: In his 17 year career, Jack Robinson was one of the editorial world's most accomplished photographers (in fact, one of Diana Vreeland's favorites) and had exclusive access to film actors, music stars, fashion designers, artists, sports figures, politicians, and socialites via his assignments for Vogue, The New York Times, and Life but his self exile from New York in 1973 and his determination never to talk about his prolific past continues to shroud his career in mystery.