Chris Frampton’s unmistakable pictures have been called intimate, real and fascinating.

An in-demand portrait and publicity photographer with editorial and commercial clients in entertainment, fashion and the arts, Chris’s approach is decidedly documentary and social. “In every one of my pictures you’ll see a relationship,” he says of his diverse portfolio. “Sometimes it’s real, sometimes it’s created, but that’s the common thread. I’d rather get a blurry, chopped off photo that makes you feel you know something about the subject, than a perfect photo that doesn’t.”

Reacting against the tendency of contemporary photography to speak down to its audience, and to favour flawless technical execution over the photographer’s vision, Chris challenges the conventions of whatever genre he works in.

Challenging expectations has been a lifelong theme. Chris grew up in the the notorious Malvern area of Scarborough, and despite a natural talent for illustration, writing and visual arts, by 18 he had been swarmed, stabbed, thrown out of school and arrested. Eventually a personal letter won him admission to York University where he sat on the formal program review board for the Department of English, tutored informal logic for the Department of Philosophy, and won the Arts Award.

Chris’s influences are diverse, and include photographers like Jeanloup Sieff, Richard Avedon, Tony Ward and Jamel Shabazz, but also the visual language of comics and film, and the adventurous spirit of the National Geographic style.

A committed urban adventurer, responsible bon vivant and rugged individualist, Chris has also enjoyed turns as an actor (Blue Murder), stuntman (Assault on Precinct 13), and journalist (as a regular Special Contributor to The Toronto Star). He lives in Toronto.