Text: Matthew Zorpas
Photo: Chris Heads
Chris Heads is a name that people in fashion know well. From exhibiting in the National Portrait Gallery in London to working for Elle UK, GQ, Wallpaper and taking portraits of Kylie Minogue; Chris is one of the most influential fashion photographers in the industry these days.
When and why did you choose to work in photography and what were you doing before that ?
I have always done photography. I have a painting/illustration background too but for the past 12 years I have been working as a photographer.
How would you describe your personal and professional character?
There is the person you think you are, the person the others think you are and the person you really are. So there’s no such thing as a 2 way conversation. Can’t remember who said that. Baudelaire or Voltaire?
Elle UK, Harpers Bazaar US, GQ and the list continues… What aspect of your work makes it unique?
Like everybody else, I am unique.
What inspires you creatively ? Who would you say have been your primary influences?
Well if you look at stuff you did as a kid. You can tell it is the same person. Nothing much changes so I guess the influences stay and you go round and round them.
If you could choose one model, one place, and one designer that , to you , epitomize London who and what would they be?
Always changing. Maybe it is still McQueen for me. Models? Don’t know no one has taken it from Kate Moss yet have they? Both of them Londoners, but of course they are much more. Place? Loughborough junction 1983.
Has the economic crisis affected your work? Minimized budget? Have there been any limitations to your creativity ?
You don’t need a budget to be creative and I m not sure the way things work has changed so much. I guess some places are talking about the crisis more than others, but personally it hasn’t affected my work.
What projects are you currently working on? Future plans?
Keep shooting magazines and personal work. Don’t really think of things as projects. Maybe try to spend more time in Paris.
How influential was London culture in your career?
There is always a big element of being a product of your environment. And that was mine. But I think if say David Lynch had grown up in Japan, he’d still be David Lynch. But he’d probably have a slightly different name.
