Chris Gardner

Growing up, I always had an interest in the arts. I went to a small K-12 school in Rocky Mount, North Carolina that didn’t offer any art classes, so I wasn’t able to try different things and find my passion. After high school, I got my first camera and fell in love with it. I started taking photos of anything and everything — mostly overprocessed landscapes and cats.

I taught myself how to use Photoshop and began experimenting with more abstract concepts of the human experience inspired by artists like Joel Robison, Rosie Hardy, and Alex Stoddard. Most of my early work is conceptual in nature and relies heavily on Photoshop but that changed in 2014 when I The Art Institutes of Raleigh-Durham.

I began to travel for photoshoots instead of taking photos of myself at home. I developed an interest in fashion and travel photography during this period and haven’t looked back. I’ve been lucky enough to meet other amazing photographers who have become close friends and have pushed me to become the photographer I am today.

In the summer of 2022, I began to insert myself into the world of automotive photography. I’ve loved cars since I was a little kid but it never occurred to me that I could use them as subjects in my work. After my first shoot, it clicked – this was the direction I wanted to go in my photography career. There is so much I still have to learn but I’m excited to see where it takes me.