After 15 years in the advertising world as a writer and art director, creating a vast portfolio of powerful campaigns for some of the most recognized luxury brands there are, including Audi, Infiniti, Jaguar, Nikon and Ritz-Carlton, Christopher Wilson jumped off a cliff to start Christopher Wilson Photography. He was bringing all that experience and passion to his photography - and it shows. Christopher leapt from agency creative to global photographer, landing projects with the most sought-after brands on the planet and in just about every country there is on the planet.
How did you get into photography?
I never had a dream to be a photographer. I was in advertising for over 15 years as both a writer and an art director. While freelancing at Team One in L.A. on Ritz-Carlton, I shot some imagery for some concepts I was creating. Ritz-Carlton didn’t approve the campaign, but they loved my photography and asked me to shoot their campaign in Vietnam. Of course I said yes, and that was the beginning. I remember going to Vietnam and really having no idea what I was doing. There was a lot of hits and miss, but it all worked out, and I kept being asked to photograph campaigns for different clients. One thing led to another and here I am - officially a commercial photographer. And I wouldn’t change a thing. I absolutely love what I do and am constantly pinching myself to make sure this isn’t a dream. I owe a big thanks to Chris Graves, the ECD at Team One and to Jamie Applebaum, the then art buyer at Team One, for starting all this wonderful madness.
A rundown of the most recent campaigns I worked on ...
The most recent campaign I photographed was for Wheels Through Time, a motorcycle museum in North Carolina, as part of a story on the history of Harley-Davidson race bikes for a magazine dedicated to all things Harley. I was in Heaven there, shooting some of the earliest motorcycles ever made. They were sculptures to me. I think I could have shot there every day for a year and not even come close to documenting all the bikes collected in this museum. It was both overwhelming and magical.
The best piece of creative work around at the moment?
Well, I don’t watch a lot of television so I’m the last person to talk about what is playing at the moment, but I did see a TV spot for Apple recently that I absolutely loved. It was part of Apple’s “Practically Magic” campaign promoting their AirPods and featuring Lil Buck. Lil Buck pops in his AirPods and starts dancing on the streets, on the walls, on ceilings, defying gravity. It truly was magical. For me it almost transcended advertising and became a wonderful short film on joy and freedom. It’s like haiku and the art of advertising. Pure poetry.
The next big advertising trend is ...
I have no idea. I don’t follow trends. Trends are of the moment, and fleeting. I believe, as a creative, the worst thing you can do is chase somebody else’s idea. Just do the best work you can, something that somehow resonates with you as a creative. If you can do that, it will resonate with others as well. Apple’s Lil Buck spot for AirPods, for example, isn’t trendy. It’s just great storytelling. For me, at least, I find the less I know what’s going on creatively, the better my work is.
The photography I wish I had thought of ...
Well, I don’t really look at other photography like that. While I might get inspired by other photographers – and I do all the time – I never wish I had thought of that first. If I’m inspired by something, I use it more as a launchpad to create something I want to do. Wait, hold on, there is something I wish I had done. Many years ago, I saw Gregory Colbert’s “Ashes & Snow” exhibit in New York. It was a stunning poetic showcase of man’s relationship with nature’s magnificent creatures. I remember very clearly thinking "wow, I wish I had done that."
My favorite digital tool or app of the moment ...
Well, I do use Instagram and Facebook, but only to post new work. I rarely if ever follow anyone, as mostly I find social media distracting - full of sound and fury signifying mostly nothing, to paraphrase Shakespeare. The only place I go to regularly is Pinterest. I find that to be a wonderful tool for collecting ideas for possible projects.
In a film about my life, I would like to be played by ...
Nobody. I have no desire in ever being the subject matter for a film. My life is not that interesting. Just work, and family, yoga and an occasional drink with friends. Kinda boring, really. I’m much happier being behind the camera than being the subject matter in front of it.
A word or phrase I overuse is ...
I don’t know. You’d probably have to ask my two daughters. I’m sure they could give you a ton of them. Probably some coaching I’m trying to give them about their lives that they don’t want to hear.
My last social media update said ...
It was on Instagram, and accompanied an image I photographed of a beautiful black woman with a giant red macaw sitting on her head. It said: "If Icarus were a woman, I think she would wear macaw wings. They would be big and beautiful and stunningly colored. And they would be made from real feathers, not wax. That way, if she flew too close to the sun, they wouldn’t melt and she wouldn’t fall. If Icarus were a woman, she would be too smart to do something dumb like that.”
My dream collaboration is ...
To work with the Mongolian eagle hunters. I’ve been dying to go to Mongolia and document these extraordinary people and their birds. Anybody interested?
A piece of critisism I've received was ...
From my father in my early twenties. He said, “When are you going to break the invisible umbilical cord?” My father probably wouldn’t even remember he said it, but it was one of those moments in your life where your molecules get rearranged and nothing is ever the same again. In that second I started to grow up and be a man.
A great peace of advise I received ...
Was also from my father when he said, “Just follow your heart, and the money will follow.” My father probably doesn’t remember he said that either, but I’ve taken that advice, and continue to use that as a mantra to this day. And so far so good. The other thing I remember my father saying, and I say all the time to my daughters in particular, is, “S**t is manure.” Love that one.
Twitter handle: @WilsonPhotoNews
