Background
Buck grew up in the Toronto suburb of Etobicoke where his father, George Buck worked for Kodak Canada, giving him an early connection to photography.
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Chris Buck
Edit ProfileEducation
He attended Ryerson University where he majored in Photographic Arts. Buck studied under noted street photographer Dave Heath and media critic Murray Pomerance, both of whom continued as mentors in the years after his graduation.
Career
During this time he was a photo editor for Nerve, a Toronto monthly music paper. He moved to New York in 1990 and has since shot many important magazine and advertising photographs. Buck’s move to New York in 1990 focused on magazine portrait work, and began a slow progression in the prominence of his celebrity sitters and the stature of his clients.
His photography is currently most associated with Gentlemen’s Quarterly, Esquire, Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, and The Guardian Weekend Magazine.
Since the late 1990s Buck has photographed a number of commercial print campaigns, for Diesel, Xerox, Microsoft, Mazda, Old Spice, Citibank, and International Business Machines Corporation. His most recognized portraits include those of Steve Martin, Andy Samberg, Chris Farley, Chloe Sevigny, and Nick Offerman. Buck has also photographed many American politicians, including Presidents Barack Obama, George West. Bush, and George H. West. Bush.
Buck has also directed several videos for clients such as Gentlemen’s Quarterly, Wired, and Viagra. In the spring and summer of 2015 Buck chronicled the adventures and eventual demise of a 3D figurine of himself.
The series, called "Likeness," included 141 photos and videos released daily on his Instagram accountant
56 of the images were included in a limited edition artist book of the series. In the spring of 2010, photos he took for a Diesel ad campaign that encouraged consumers to “Be Stupid” led to some public outcry and heated editorials. Some ads were banned in the United Kingdom. In August 2011 Buck became the center of a controversy when his Newsweek cover photo of Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann caused a media stir.
The photo even spawned a hate page titled “Meet Chris Buck, the a-hole who took the Michele Bachmann Newsweek photo.” The image prompted a comment from Sarah Palin and spawned several internet memes.
Achievements
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His awards include The Arnold Newman Prize for his portraiture, PDN’s Notable 2012 and German Book Award 2013 Selected Title for his book Presence, and Luerzer’s Archive 200 Best Ad Photographers (2012/2013 and 2014/2015). His work has appeared in: American Photography (35 times), Photo District News Photo Annual (22 times), and the Communication Arts Photography Annual (12 times). His solo shows include: 2014 Turn of the Century Portraiture, Galerie Youn, Montreal, Queen's Counsel 2013 Presence: The Invisible Portrait, Foley Gallery, New York, New York 2002 The Sound of Music: New portraits of contemporary musicians, Other Music, New York, New York 1998 FanClub, Saba Gallery, New York, New New York
