Chris has a new website and agent (here).

buck_new_site

A couple pictures I assigned made the cut which is always a thrill. You’d be surprised how often–over the years looking at websites and portfolios–pictures I assign don’t make the cut. This is actually a good thing. Anyway. I wanted to hook him up since he really let it all out with that interview a little while back.

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38 Comments

  1. I don’t know if it’s that I liked his previous website of work better or just how the presentation of the images played off each other. Thankfully his previous site is still viewable from a google search. His older site gives me that same great feeling as if viewing and studying the work for the first time. I just don’t get the same with the new site/work.

  2. When the industry gets tired of Chris buck’s ” edgy style ..” he will be like
    chip simons , wondering why this style is not relevant and that the work is part of the recycling of looks that the newer AD and Photo Editors think is original.
    The only thing is that , art students from Photo school will be outbidding Chris Buck for the jobs and chris will have to repeat himself to get the money to pay his mortage because his day rate will be too high for the client and someone will shoot this for $ 400.00 plus no additional usage.
    Chris’s new rep will not go for it so he will have say no to the job and wait
    till the next one comes around.

    The things that Chris ” live at home in the tri state suburbs till i can shoot only what i want to shoot while everyone else is assisting and struggling ” Buck …..

    I can say will not have or do is

    1) when they write the history of Photography , worry that he is in it.
    2) write a check for private school or College or put a kid thru University
    3) think about having a show at the MOMA or PACE McGill Gallery

    The Ego can be a terrible thing to waste…..

    you guys need to desperately stay as Young as Possible in your minds
    to live happily ever after in the new age of Photography.

    don’t worry, be happy- BP

    • oh man i thought that seeing the BP post here that there would be an updated rant/entry on his blog…. i guess he’s just not that bitter anymore, or just too jaded to care about being or not being bitter :)

      • @craig, it would be nice if BP’s post had been merely coherent. He’s done some awful things to english syntax in the above abortion of a prose piece.

        I used to follow his blog, but it’s been defunct for a year since he signed off last January.

        • @Michael S., I have a feeling that is not the BP.

  3. can we see some up and coming talent please. i know you love the successes and the grand old masters, but the next generation needs a chance as well. get off the high horse rob.

    • @i, the web is full of up and comers, they’re everywhere, what’s your issue??

      • @dr, i have no problem with your showcasing the work of those who have found success, but people with your stature in the industry have a certain power to shed light on those who are just coming and perhaps garner some interest for them from a crowd who might otherwise ignore them. (and by them i am not speaking of the hipsters that everyone already knows about)
        isn’t time that the up and comers got a little love from people like yourself or do you feel that in comparison to your favs, they have nothing to offer? they would love to hear your feedback and your commentary on their work. you are considered to be the professional with the experience.
        it’s just a matter of sharing what you know to foster the next generation. got it? good karma comes back to you….

        • @i,
          well then post a link to the up and comers you want to have us all see. but, as far as calling rob out here, i doubt you will find many people who wouldn’t agree that he has been more than willing to give people a bit of a chance to get out of their shells (ie, his free promo project earlier last year, and offering to share his professional experience here).

          • @craig, to reiterate, i have no problem with checking out the successful photographers out there, and yes the free promo project was a great idea. more of that please!
            what i love to see are people like jonathan (below) who post their links and welcome the pe to critic their work. it will be interesting to see if more up and comers come forward and even more interesting to see if they get a response.

            • @i, I’m sick and tired of up an comers. Give me old people! How old is Chris anyway? 39? Ewwwww – waaaay over the hill to be edgy and relevant! Jeeeeez

  4. I thoroughly enjoy looking at Chris’ work, so I’m glad he updated his site. Cheers.

    • @Terence Patrick,

      Fucking ditto and amen.

      Good for you Chris. Continued success.

  5. pe
    what were the photos that you assigned please?

    i really like chris bucks photos.him and dan winters always inspire me .

    i am a new talent just starting to get some props.

    check out this blog article about me and my book project.

    http://artproducer.blogspot.com/2008/12/personal-project-jonathan-beller.html

    maybe when i get my book deal the pe will write about me and my project.

    also check out my website

    jonathanbeller.com

    please email me with your comments and crits. love to hear what you all have to say.
    thanks

    jonathan

    jonathanbeller.com

  6. I like the old site better for sure. Way more depth and personality. I even liked the crazy, illogical grouping and navigation. Bring it back!

    As for “giving props to, and shedding light on the up and comers”…. sorry to say but you have to make your own light. Don’t wait for someone to come around and hand it to you. Stop whining and go make some pictures.

    • @jamie kripke, you missed the point, it’s not about getting a handout – it’s about getting FEEDBACK so that you can learn and grow from it. pictures will always be made regardless….

      • @i,

        See Rob’s previous blog post. You’ll find where you get your feedback and validation.

        • @all

          Validation? PLEASE!!!

          @i, I’ve been in this game for a while now and trust me, the best validation that you can ever get is when you’re on an assignment and someone walks up to you and asks your name and when you tell them they say, “oh, you’re (….), I love your work.”

          A lot of people will look at CB’s work and go, huh? Others praise him as a Master. Whatever works for you. But the purpose of being a photographer is communicating with your viewers; your public.

          Focus on that and you’ll be more than o.k.

          • @Tim, best advice i have heard all day. the rants of ‘sigh’ don’t accomplish anything accept negativity.

            • @i, btw, National Geographic photographer David Alan Harvey has built an online magazine dedicated to attracting and showcasing the work of emerging photographers. It’s a beautifully evolving piece of work.

              http://www.burnmagazine.org

              • @Tim, thanks! i’ll be sure to check it out.

  7. Count me as a Chris Buck fan — of the new site, his work, and as a person. He’s a great guy to work with, which counts for a lot.

    Also stoked to see one of the photos I assigned made the cut!

  8. that kid’s post above ( pe……check me out ) is exactly what I don’t want to see. (kid, you’re OK, keep working and try not to embarrass yourself in public, when the work gets really good people will find you)

    my god, the enormous sea of undifferentiated gobbledygook is astounding. Where do so many people get in in their heads that they want to be photographers? why are there so many people going off half cocked looking for recognition? Where is the original zombie so I can stick a spike through his head?

    • @sigh, wow, care to post your work? way to inspire.

      • @i, this is NOT the forum for critique, go to a museum, see someone’s work living or dead that is so good that it makes you sweat and wonder if you have any business holding a camera, look at the giant chasm between what you are doing and what they did and see if you can make that chasm smaller by rethinking your approach.

        Miles Davis almost pissed himself the first time he heard Dizzy Gillespie but he had the gonads to keep trying. Artists either know their work is good or they know it’s shit and then have to try harder.

        • @sigh, you do not get a critique at a museum and actually, this is great forum for such discussions – especially when people can put forth ideas with level heads. sounds like you’ve had more than your share of harsh criticism.
          best of luck to you.

          • @i, you are the only critic you need. I’ve had plenty of harsh criticism from myself, and that is the only thing that has ever made me better.

            If you really want the feedback, there are consultants who make their living charging $200+ an hour to do this. APE ain’t gonna start doing it for free, he’s got his own fish to fry.

            …or post YOUR website.

    • @sigh, if you hadn’t of said it, I would have. There is just such a large and unedited pool of shit out there. All these kids bust out of photo school half educated thinking that the middling tripe that spews from their Canon will get them a retrospective at MoMA. The real deal is that you have to be persistent and ruthlessly self critical for at least 6-7 years before you are any good. And the kid who wanted a critique, about 4% of what’s on your site is passible. The rest is like wading through flickr and I don’t care if the Martin Agency assigned some of it. Cut your site down to the top 4%, look at those pictures. Then go look at Avedon’s In the American West and any collection of Kharsh portraits and see why your photos fail. I mean this as advice and without cruel intentions. Next, look at Heavy Metal Parking Lot published by PowerHouse Books, and several other books on conventions etc, and see that your Fan concept has been done, and done pretty well.

      • @Donnar Party,

        thanks for your comments. what 4% did you like so i can trash the rest and learn from your expert advice.i am also wondering why people hide when they make these comments. you can email with your advice if youd like. how am i going to learn when people dont say what they like and dont like .have you also thought that im trying to get the work out there and its working.

        opinions are like assholes everyone has one.

        thanks again for checking out the work

        jonathan

        jonathanbeller.com

  9. I like his new site although it seemed to load a little slow. I need a new site as well.

  10. wow. Instead of pouring out vitriol on this site, how about pouring it into some hard work? Mabye taking pictures?

    Photography is an open market and yes, its crowded. But good work will rise to the top. Do you all remember what Ira Glass said? It takes 6-12 years to make it. Same with anything you try, you need to get to the magic 10,000 hrs number to be a master. And like Malcom Gladwell says in outliers, after you make a certain skill level, you are good enough to make it if you work hard enough. And that means REALLY hard.

    Oh, and I’ll post my website here, and welcome the feedback.

    Thanks, everyone.

    LEC

    http://www.lecphoto.com

  11. I expected a better site! Definitely don’t like the poopfest background color!

  12. the image compression looks like shite. not a good way to present your work in my opinion.

  13. I love his work but the site is a piece of s…
    I can’t believe a photographer of this level cold have a site so badly designed, it takes a while to load(i am on cable very fast) and the navigation is a joke, also the compression of the jpg looks horrible.
    His work is so strong that a simple html site would have done the job

  14. What res is this website made for? The images show up a lot smaller on my screen than on your screenshot.

  15. Well, I wasn’t really expecting this. I simply posted his new site and change of agents as a favor for the time he put into the interview and because at the time of the interview he was about to change both.

    Debating the load time, design and image compression on his site is stupid. All these guys use mailers, printed portfolios, office visits and the help of an agent to land jobs. Personal websites do not have to follow any rules and a simple survey of top working photographers (if they even have one) will tell you that.

    This is not the place to critique work or learn techniques. There are plenty of websites devoted to that and to be honest I’m not a photographer so techniques interest me to the point of finding photographers who shoot a certain technique but I have no clue how it’s done or how you can become one of them.

    I’ve got plenty of interviews with crusty old photographers coming and some more projects where up and comers can get their work seen.

  16. “Edgy” is overrated. Especially when it becomes predictable, a style unto itself.

  17. Chris’s work is great! I get jealous when I see it because its so simple to get and so well executed.

    If you don’t get it, you are probably too old to to know better or to change anything. So just worry about what you have power over, like weather you want your some sugar in your oat meal or not!


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