Christopher Morris is an English comedian, radio presenter, actor, and filmmaker. Known for his deadpan, dark humour, surrealism, and controversial subject matter, he has been praised by the British Film Institute for his “uncompromising, moralistic drive”.
‘Young Chechen, Orphan boy on Ulikemia street (Street of Peace) in downtown Grozny, 1996’
U.S.A. –
Christopher Morris is an American photojournalist who has managed to fit documenting war, politics and fashion within his journey as a photographer. Morris is among the founding members of the VII Photo Agency. Christopher Morris in conversation with Emaho about his work as a photojournalist spanning over three different fields, his monograph ‘My America’, and the experience of having documented conflict –
Manik : How did photography happen for you? Tell us a little about the transition from conflict to political and then fashion photography.
I fell in love as a child with the art of photography, realising at an early age that carrying a camera gave you permission to be pretty much anywhere you wanted to be. Originally my career was focused mainly on covering world news, which was primarily conflict photography. There was something dark and exciting for me about attempting to capture on film the act of men trying to kill other men. For me at the time it was the purest form of photography; the most exhilarating form of photography available, with the highest risk.
The transition to political photography came about by coming to the realisation that the above statements were completely selfish and immature. Having a child forced me to grow up and find another type of photography, which led me to politics where I was assigned for nine years to cover the White House for Time magazine. This is where my photography changed, everything about documenting a President on a daily basis, became very rigid and structured. Hence it was appropriate for me that my photography started to mimic this rigid, structured environment. From this I produced my first book “My America” by Steidl in 2006.
The book came to the attention of the Editor in chief and Director of Photography at the Italian fashion magazine AMICA. They first assigned me to photograph the mannequins in the Ralph Lauren store inNew York City. For in my book “My America” my subjects looked like mannequins. Eventually they let me step up to start using real models. This is where the initial transition the fashion world started)
‘Chechen fighter flees the presidential palace’
Manik : You spent 20 years documenting conflict in over 18 countries that include Yugoslavia, Panama and Afghanistan. What was your first project in the field?
My first attempt at conflict was in 1983 when I went to the Philippines and attempting to document the ongoing insurgency against the Marcos regime.
