After graduating from IDHEC, he enrolled at UCLA Film School and did an internship on Postman always rings twice directed by Bob Rafelson and starring Jack Nicholson.

During this early stage of his career, he met French TV figures (Maurice Dugowson, Raoul Sangla, Jean-Pierre Spiero) but also American movie makers who would have an important influence on his photographic style (Samuel Fuller, Sam Peckinpah, David Lynch, Ridley Scott ...).

[3] During this session, the master of photography, André Kertész, aged 90, known for his sense of humor, also made several distorted photos of his female model and young assistant, Philippe Robert.

[citation needed] Top-models like Carla Bruni, French actresses such as Sophie Marceau, Mathilda May and singers, Lio and Sylvie Vartan posed for him in Lionel Cros outfits.

Since 2005, he is regularly exhibited at the Cannes International Fashion Photography Festival that show large size photos in the city sites such as La Croisette, Casino Palm Beach[9] and the Hôtel Martinez.

Although together with Jean-Baptiste Mondino and Stephane Sednaoui he is one of the French photographers who brought "erotic touch" to the fashion photography, he said at the beginning of his career that his main ambition was to catch his models' beauty and individuality and not to create shock images.

Philippe Robert creates covers and fashion editorials for French and European magazines, working with female models and supermodels such as, among others, Julie Anderson, Carla Bruni,[5] Helena Christensen, Vera Cox,[4] Angie Everhart, Noémie Lenoir, Inès Sastre, female artists (Béatrice Dalle, Arielle Dombasle,[8] Sophie Marceau, Sylvie Vartan ...) and occasionally with men (Nicholas Rogers).

In 2008, he shot a fashion series with the prima ballerinas of the Paris National Opera (Emilie Cozette, Dorothée Gilbert, Marie-Agnès Gillot, Agnès Letestu, Delphine Moussin, Clairemarie Osta, Laëtitia Pujol.

In the September of the same year Art Photo Expo gallery exhibited in New York a selection of Robert diptychs showing Carla Bruni in Lionel Cros, Thierry Mugler as well as nude.

[5] In July 2011, the ambitious Dutch Holland’s Diep magazine used a Philippe Robert’s portrait of Carla Bruni,[20] a photograph that had been on the cover of Spanish ELLE in February 1995.

[21] He frequently photographs actors (Monica Bellucci, Virginie Ledoyen, Robert Mitchum ...), artists (Gilbert and George ...), French TV popular figures (Edouard Bauer, Claire Chazal, Marie Drucker ...) and athletes (Jean Galfione ...).

[22] The pictures were circulated in all European French language speaking countries on large posters, plastic bags and postcards distributed in the Hachette Fillippacci Media group newsstands.

Either in his Carla Bruni series or his shots of Paris National Opera's Prima Ballerina, Philippe Robert catches his models rock 'n' roll attitudes and movements and makes the music enter his fashion images.