I'm a Seattle-based writer, photographer and artist. 

Did you take any formal training in Photography or is it something that comes naturally to you?

Actually, I'm not a formally trained photographer. I've been shooting pictures for about 25 years. Several thousand bad pictures later and you eventually start to take some good ones. The important things are not to stop and to learn from your mistakes. It is also essential for you to not be shy and to get closer to your subject. I cannot remember who said it but they were absolutely right: If the picture is not good then you weren't close enough!

What is your favourite photography subject?

I'm not sure that I necessarily have a favorite 'subject' per se. The range of subjects I shoot is diverse. Here in Seattle I most often work as a photojournalist which involves shooting very quickly to both document what it happening while portraying a story. It can be exciting and challenging. Doing quieter, more structured, portrait and macro work has its positive aspects. Overall, the most dominant style of my work (especially when I'm traveling around the world) is street photography which is much more documentary. I enjoy that quite a bit.

Your 'Disparity Series' looks awesome and stand out of the crowd! Tell us more about this project of yours.

I've been working on the Disparity series since around 2007 or so. It juxtaposes detailed plastic figures with food as a backdrop. I'm sure the series was a response to a lot of childhood experiences (as a model railroader and an avid collector of Matchbox cars) and a lot of film and television that used the concept of size disparity for dramatic effect (like Honey I Shrunk the Kids, The Incredible Shrinking Woman, Innerspace, etc.). The elements of the project, basically food and toys, are among the most common things in just about every culture in the world. And I think that quality makes it readily accessible to just about anyone, regardless of language or background.

 


























It is so much loved be everyone out there! Are you planning on coming out with something creative like this again?

I'm continuing to work on this series. In fact, I've just added several images to the collection in the past week. So there will be more. But I also create all kinds of other work, including writing and HD video projects, so this is just one small part of a larger creative effort. I'm always working on something creative. I'm absolutely never bored.



























You travel the world for your assignments, which is that one place that you would love visiting time 'n again and why?

I travel extensively and I do try to visit different places. I've visited six continents in the past five years (including being inside the Arctic Circle in Sweden and shooting in the Southernmost parts of Chile, just a about 500 miles from Antarctica). But as much as everyone says it is a small world, in truth the world is a vast, complex place. There are still so many places I would like to see, places that I'm sure would be fascinating, stimulating and photogenic, like: India, Iceland, Russia, Turkey and Sub-Saharan Africa. I'd very much like to visit Afghanistan and Iraq too once the political climate stabilizes.


























This is a difficult one, but we would love to know about your favourite image that you've captured so far?

After shooting perhaps hundreds of thousands of images in more than a quarter century of work, asking me to distill one favorite image from so many is like asking a father of many children to name a favorite. It is an exercise in futility. However, I will more willingly admit that the best images in my memory are the ones that I saw with my eyes but missed with my camera. A bird flying between me and a flash of lightning. A striking, 8 year-old girl standing in a laundromat looking up at her mother. A man with a blackened face carrying bags of coal off a barge in Burma. I have a very vivid mental record of those moments when the camera was either absent or not fast enough. And you never forget what you miss. But then again, sometimes moments should be experienced and savored with both eyes, as opposed to looking at them through a viewfinder with just one.

What inspires the photographer within you? Do you admire someone?

Inspiration comes from everywhere. You just need to know how to look carefully and closely. There are so many brilliant visual artists and photographers. Architects and designers too. But nature too is the most brilliant designer of all. Go stand under a tree someday and take a very close look at what's going on there.  Even a simple green tree in the sunlight might have hundreds of variations of the color green. It is remarkable. And nature never seems to clash, either. The color always works perfectly. Conversely, ugliness is everywhere too in the built environment. And in the 21st century, the volume of information often comes at us in a firehose-like stream. You have to work to sort out the valuable visual information and discard the rest. I think my approach is that I often try to see the world in black and white and let the amazing things just illuminate themselves in color. That seems to work for me.

One camera accessory you can't simply do without?

There is no indispensable camera accessory. A good photographer can make do with a shoebox with a pin hole in it. In fact, I think there is too much focus on gear. I shoot with a pair of Canon 5D Mark II cameras, which do both still and HD video in the same camera. The technology is incredible. A game changer. But too often people admire my images and ask: what kind of camera do you use? I gladly tell them. But it is entirely the wrong question. A better question would be: what kind of optics did you use? A good lens can make a world of difference. But even then, the fact remains that even the most expensive gear is useless in the hands of someone who cannot truly SEE what they are shooting.

What are the other things that interests you?

So much about the world interests me and I have many creative outlets. I consider myself to be fortunate to be living in the Information Age as I seem well suited to it.

What would you advise a budding photographer?

Advice. Hmm. I don't know. The artist Chuck Close said that photography is a medium in which it is easiest to become technically proficient but perhaps the hardest to have a style that distinguishes yourself from other photographers. As a writer I learned that good writers write from what they know. The people and experiences of your life become the "starter dough" for the bread you're going to bake. I think photography can be informed by the same senses. So maybe that means you should just listen to your instincts. Shoot what is interesting to you, even when people might question it or what you're shooting might be disturbing. 

Christopher, thanks for this wonderful interview. You're a great photographer and we look forward to see the next series of 'Disparity'. All the best! 

Check out his portfolio here.

To read more interviews of talented artists like Christopher, you can subscribe to our blog. You can also choose to receive updates via email. 

Do join us on Facebook as well: