Chris Sutton is a photographer and filmmaker renowned for his striking fashion imagery and portraiture. He has shot for publications such as Italian Vogue and regularly contributes covers to L’Officiel. From world tours such as Lady Gaga’s to Marilyn Manson’s, Chris also excels in exhibition work, and consulted on Karl Lagerfeld’s career retrospective exhibition in Germany.
In 2020 he received a nomination for a British Photography Award in Fine Art for ‘Belfast – Carbomb’ which is part of a larger ongoing body of work documenting his experiences of both conflict and post-conflict Northern Ireland.
‘A huge portion of why I love photography is due to the people I meet. Day to day, I really don’t like being social. I don’t go out. Which meant the pandemic lockdown didn’t really impact me. My camera is very much my passport to be in places or with people or to go on adventures on my own. It gives me a clear purpose and it’s a companion. I’m not sure how passive or calm people perceive photography to be. I want to be clear now that it’s not. The act of photography is aggressive. The presence of it affects people. It has to power to reveal something they might not like.
‘I spent a few years shooting portraits with a very big medium format camera. On buses, on street corners, I can’t tell you the visceral anger it brought out when people thought I was taking a photo without their knowledge. I always ask but the tribal mindset to attack the outsider was something I wasn’t expecting. Long story short. It takes balls to do this work.
‘This was a case of, I can’t believe I managed to do that. This was taken in a basement in Tokyo just after I had been working on Dior couture show repeat, I had about 90 mins free to myself before I had to check out of my hotel and visit Kim Jones at a launch he was having and somehow I got 45 mins of shooting Aya Sato, she is a remarkable woman and dancer. So much so Madonna recognises it and has had her perform on her tours. We shot something simple and raw with what we had and the Polaroids ended up in its final collage from. I put some Swarovski crystals on a torch and took an iPhone pic and collaged it in. I can’t remember why, I’m sure it’s some left over impression of the lights over Tokyo at night.’
‘This is from a cover story I shot for L’officiel last Nov. right in the middle of quarantine lock downs I somehow managed to get to Milan and home just in time before the world shut. I recall my photo assistant in Milan flaked on me so this was the first shoot in awhile I had to physically hold my light and shoot. To top it off I was shooting film too. The tension of the pandemic in Milan. The heat, the attempting to create lead to this. When an artist ( with a small ‘a’ ) creates – the end product always gets tainted by their mood. Mine clearly was a nightmare. Photographs are definitely emotional postcards.’
‘This is a beautiful model called Raphael who I was photographing with Tony ward. Somehow we ended up with having a Tony ward shoot at the Los Angeles Equestrian centre at 6am – 1pm then another shoot 3pm – 8pm across town. Insane. Though shooting at the equestrian centre with beautiful men and horses was pretty much as much fun as it sounds. Maybe it’s because I’m Irish but my idea of heaven is California. The idea that it doesn’t rain everyday and it’s a golden light kind of state. Americana is something I romanticise infinitely. I love the open horizons. The mid state fair, the barrel race trails and just the complete freedom I feel there. It’s easy to see why Ansel Adams admired it so much. So this is my summer romance of America image. Mist rolling off the hills, horse in the shade and a man alone. This was shot on 35mm hence the grain. It’s not a filter. I hate that it’s 2021 and I need to even say that.’
‘The business side. Our work is often used to sell fashion. I don’t mind commercial work at all, I Like to find the art in all of it. So the goal simply becomes, what’s the most aspirational and beautiful solution. I like the sense of distance in images, and a sense of this is a moment between moments. The liminal is always fascinating to me.’
‘I had a day off in LA and booked a studio and had about 9 models come through and have a 10 min sitting. I love portraits, it’s a really exciting proposition to react to a person you’ve never met and find something without over thinking or over controlling the situation. This was casual and for fun. I believe Numero Homme ran the story but this image is my favourite. I went to iconLA the developing lab I work with, and I just took iPhone pics of my negatives on the light box to look at on my way to meet friends at the grove. After I inverted it I kind of loved it more than the actual scan. The glare of the light box and visable sprocket holes just make it seem more of an object that a disposable digital image.’
‘Similar to the last story, only a year before and in Dublin. I’d booked several models for sittings in Dublin. This final ended up in Vman after I played with collaging acetate. I’m not sure why but I get a lot of pleasure creating with layers and translucency. I don’t really find perfection that exciting so I’m happier with a rougher result. Most people tend to want to hide mistakes, but the truth is a mistake always leads to a beautiful accident as a solution. So relax and embrace your own chaos. This started with an idea about toxic masculinity, if I can recall.’
- You can follow Chris on Instagram – @thechrissutton
