Photographer Profile

UK born but Canadian raised Christopher Ford was first introduced to the power of photography while in primary school. He pursued it seriously in high school, through college and graduated in 1974 from a private institution in Montreal (SMP, 1975) with a specialism in studio photography, all the while pouring over the photography of the French greats such as Doisneau, Cartier-Bresson, Ronis, Boubat and others.  This impacted on his introduction to what is now referred to as Street Photography, a genre he began shooting while living in Vancouver, B.C. in 1981 and which he still continues 30 years later.

 
His photography was first published in "Best of American Photography" in 1984. Returning to the UK in 1986, Christopher took up a position of principle photography lecturer at a college in Oxford, a position he still holds 25 years later. His first solo exhibition of his Street Photography was in 1988 at the Stables Gallery, Green College, Oxford and has since been exhibited in galleries in and around Oxfordshire, Berkshire and London. Other work has been exhibited in Europe and Canada.  He has appeared on radio talking about photography and his Street Photography postcard images are represented by Santoro Graphics International.  A collection of highlights of the past 30 years of this photography has been published in the book titled, “In My Time...a 30 year Retrospective Document of Street Photography”, published by Xlibris publishers, USA.

In 2010, Christopher enrolled onto the part time MA degree photography programme at De Montfort University.  The structure of the programme has allowed him the freedom to explore the conceptual genre of photography.  The body of work, “A Sense of Loss” was his first year-end module submission.  The work, "Je Me Souviens" (translated, "I Remember")  is an exploration of childhood memories through the study of personal objects and souvenirs. It was this work that was the topic of his MA dissertation, the successful completion and graduation in July, 2012

Christopher continues to teach the art and craft of photography at college level and also at the BA degree level with the OCA (Open College of the Arts).  When not teaching, he also undertakes commercial and private commissions, while continuing to exhibit  various personal projects.