Christopher Anderson is a Canadian-American artist working in Paris.
Episode 124: This episode marks the first episode in which I revisit an artist for the first time. As always, I enjoyed catching up with Christopher Anderson on his new book, Pia published by Stanley/Barker-already a sold out classic and for all the right reasons. It is an incredible book for the times we live in. Intimate, well-executed with universal themes of family implicit. It’s nice to see the concept of fatherhood also included in the ever-expanding books dedicated to family.
Pia © Christopher Anderson / Magnum Photos. Stanley/Barker, 2020.
With Nearest Truth, the idea is that I am building biographies of artists working in photography with the aim to catch them each time they release something into the world of significance and add an hour or so to their biography. I no longer think of Nearest Truth as a podcast, but rather it is an ambitious archive. Christopher represents an important step in the evolution of this platform and I want to thank him for his patience and vision.
Pia © Christopher Anderson / Magnum Photos. Stanley/Barker, 2020.
I would also like to refer readers and listeners to episode 15 for our more intensive first meeting. In that episode, we speak about Christopher’s past and various other projects that he has been involved in. It was recorded just over one year ago in Paris and what a different world it is in December 2020. None the less, we persevered with a great discussion about the new work and the complications that result from working remotely during a pandemic. Christopher is someone that I intend to pester often as it is hard to keep track of his ever-expanding and reaching practice. I hope you will all find some interest in this episode, which I think of as being quite endearing.
Pia © Christopher Anderson / Magnum Photos. Stanley/Barker, 2020.
As mentioned in this episode, we speak about a number of different things, but mostly about family life and his book Pia. We spoke a little bit about the work that he is doing right now remotely-in particular we speak about his shoot with Rick Owens. I saw the shoot from afar in September and was really wowed by it. I find it really interesting that even though thousands of miles separate Christopher from his subjects, the work still looks quantifiably Anderson! Its a testament to his skill and ability to work under duress and with lateral creative thinking.
Photo: Christopher Anderson/Magnum for New York Magazine.
