Chris Callis  

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was born in Yreka, California


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and raised in Sacramento.  

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He went to the Agricultural Branch of the University of California at Davis

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where he joined a fraternity his freshman year

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and became the pledge class photographer.

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He fell in love with photography but, because of the draft, was unable to transfer to a photography school.

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He stayed at Davis majoring in Food Science

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while taking the Famous Photographers Correspondence Course on the side.

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Upon graduation

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he was drafted.

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He went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma and

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became a Lieutenant in the Artillery Branch of the Army. Shortly after being commissioned he was sent to Vietnam.

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By showing his photographs to the commander of the Da Nang Press Center, he was reassigned there as a press liaison. He spent the next year traveling around Vietnam with the civilian press.

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After his stint in the Army, he attended the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles,

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and began photographing fashion on the streets.

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When he finished his studies at the Art Center,

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he began working for the record companies photographing album covers

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He freelanced for a year in Los Angeles, when he went to New York for a party,

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and 3 days later signed a lease for a loft on 26th Street.

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His early New York clients included the National Lampoon,

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Viva,  

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New York Magazine,  

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New York Times,

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Geo,

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Atlantic Records,

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and Honda.

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In 1981 he had a dream of beams of light hitting a person, creating a sense of motion.

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Within 4 days of the dream, a picture of Chris s was published in the centerfold of the Village Voice using his vision.

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The next 10 years were spent perfecting this technique, during which time he produced work for Vogue,

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Linea Italiana,

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Glamour,

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Redbook,

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Izod,

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Reebok,

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Jaz Watches,

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Barney's,

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Esquire,

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New York Times Magazine,

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Aviance,

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J Walter Thompson,

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Brides Magazine,

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and Saks Fifth Avenue.

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During this time, he invented a robotic tracking system for his lights.

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He also did work for BMW,

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DuPont,

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DuPont Lycra,

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Bacardi Black,

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Esquire,

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IBM,

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House and Garden

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Parenting,

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Bounty,

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Lenox

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Polaroid,

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Motorola,

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Hewlett Packard,

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US Open,

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Royal Shakespear Company,

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and The New Yorker.

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For 10 years Chris has volunteered his time for The Doe Fund, a non-profit organization benefiting the homeless, and has produced a library of photographs that the organization uses extensively.

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Chris has produced over 30 Christmas cards for himself and The Doe Fund.

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As the digital age unfolded Chris created a new lighting technique that allows him unforeseen control and mastery of the image and the print.

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For 25 years, Chris has been teaching lighting at SVA MFA Photo and Related Media Department.

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After 45 years in New York, Chris moved to Tucson to start an unknown adventure.

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