Today we’d like to introduce you to Christopher Malcolm.
Christopher, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I am an award-winning fashion, fitness, lifestyle, and portrait photographer based in Los Angeles. Like most photographers, my story started with street photography. But traveling the world in search of different locations and scenarios to inspire me, I quickly realized that the only thing that interested me was the face in front of the camera. Since then, I have focused my work solely on “people” pictures. Whether that be a simple head shot or a campaign for a major activewear line, my images seek to inspire the audience and paint the best version of the subject. My work has appeared in print and online for everything from Popular Photography to Marie Claire. My images have also been used to promote brands both large and small, ranging from companies as large as McDonald’s and Verizon to small businesses like Hand Candy and the LA Contemporary Dance Company. My Live Your Love project won the prestigious Lucie Award for lifestyle photography and gained exhibition from coast-to-coast. I also served as an intern and photo assistant for legendary celebrity photographer Art Streiber and credit him as one of my biggest inspirations.
Has it been a smooth road?
An artistic life is never a smooth road. Unlike a career in medicine, the law, or most traditional careers, there is no set path to obtain your goals. Instead, the artistic life is but a series of trial and error. Like most creative people, the most dominant (and never ending) struggle is the balance of art and commerce. How does one grow one’s career without sacrificing the passion that created it in the first place? For myself, the biggest obstacle is the continuing process of narrowing down one’s artistic focus. Most great photographers are capable of shooting pretty much anything and making it look good. They are great after all. But to build a career in photography, you need to narrow down your focus into a recognizable niche. Art buyers and photo editors tend to hire based on that specific niche. They don’t say, I have a gig for someone who photographs llamas. Let me find the best photographer out there regardless of specialty, and give him/her the assignment. Instead, they search for the guy who specializes in shooting llamas. They don’t particularly care if he/she can shoot fashion and travel as well. They have a job, and they necessarily have blinders when narrowing down who they will hire to carry it out. So, for someone like myself, who likes to shoot lots of things, the challenge is actually to NOT shoot lots of things. Or, if I shoot them, to restrict what I actually share with the public. This can be difficult as most artists are driven by a need to share their art. But, when forming a career, it is possible for there to be too much of a good thing.
What’s the hardest part of your job?
The ebbs and flows. For any creative, a business can be feast or famine, alternating between the long hunt for work and being far too busy to keep up with it all. Steady is definitely not a given for any freelancer.
What are you striving for, what criteria or markers have you set as indicators of success?
My only goal in life is to spend the rest of my days creating art. Financial reward is nice (and necessary), but I’d rather be known for producing quality work regardless of my bank account.
So, what should we be on the lookout for, what’s next in store for you?
Just trying to continually grow. The wonderful thing about art is that you never know where it will lead.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.christophermalcolmphotography.com
- Phone: 2139527340
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christophermalcolmphotography/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Christopher-Malcolm/185296749111
- Other: https://twitter.com/the_cameraman_
Image Credit:
Dance picture – LA Contemporary Dance Company
Male model solo – Isaiah Lucas
Female Athletes – Virginia Martin, Valerie James, Ashley Bowen, Kelsey Paul of IT Models
Male Basketball Players – Tevin Callender, Marcellus Williams of Wilhelmina Models
