Christopher Morris

War Photographer, Fashion photographer, Time Photo Journalist. Christopher Morris is the modern day photgraphic scribe that we should all try to follow.

So says Mike Gibson

 

I was asked by L’Artiste magazine to write a piece on a photographer who I thought captured and developed the most insightful images of his generation.

I was told to make it simple and accessible to as many people as possible. I started writing and after 3,474 words I stopped. The greatest compliment I can give is that this man and his work do not require words or narrative. As a photographer myself the most honest thing I can say is simply that I am a fan....

 

Born in 1958 in California, USA Christopher Morris obtained a Bachelor of Science in Photography from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. His early career was spent as a war photographer where he covered more than 18 conflicts including the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq and Chechnya.

War photography is a beast to do. No framing, no lighting; it is where those who besmirch photography have to be silent. It is dangerous, it is impossible to think at times and the chance to catch the image is at best fleeting. All war photographers are heroes and heroines and in my

opinion Morris is as good as any.

 

I ONCE met a man who said he’d been to war

he told me he knew a man he thought he’d seen before

Bullets fired around his head he couldn’t take no more

then that man Morris started to shoot but no one hit the floor

i came home a disillusioned man trusting no one no more

and do you know Christopher Morris hung the president on a wall

 

When change was decided Morris undertook a photo assignment for Time Magazine as a Whitehouse photographer following the Bush administration. This led to his first book, My America, a journey into Republican America. I first saw this book when it was first published and was reminded of it again when I saw an exhibition of his work a couple of years ago in Montpellier, France.

 

The intelligence and structure of Morris’s images should not be possible. Some images are set up and some are achieved I think, in part, as a result of his previous experiences as a war photographer.

 

In a world where art is often accompanied by narrative this area of his work stands above anything else I have seen in the last 10 years. Every image conveys a story and emotion. I have felt joy, anger, despondency, fear and a whole gambit of emotions from just one of his images.

For me Christopher Morris is ‘old school’ where a picture tells a thousand words. In 2001 Morris was one of the founding members of the photographic Agency VII.

 

VII was established by seven of the world’s leading photo journalists and currently has over 30 photographers on its books. As if this wasn’t enough, Morris has now turned his eye and lens to the art of fashion photography. A more defined style of photography you will not find. From the immediacy of war to set design and the controlled environment of fashion, Christopher Morris has not only tried it all he has, as some say, ‘got the t-shirt’.

 

I make no apology to you for so few words as the images speak for themselves. And in a world where ‘cool’ is all that counts I shout out loud and proud....

 

Christopher Morris, I am a fan!

 

Mike Gibson for L'Artiste