2007 | THERE IS UNREST IN THE FOREST

Chris Anthony’s images suggest complete narrative worlds that kick-start the imagination, often taking it in directions that might be somewhat discomforting—if not unnerving. His work is unabashedly dramatic, with an antiquated look and feel that cre­ates and sustains a sense of timelessness. “I’m not really a modern man,” Anthony states simply. “I am most attracted to and com­fortable with the Victorian period. That is my sensibility and aesthetic. That’s the world I live in.”

After an early career directing music videos, commercials and shorts in Europe, Morocco and the U.S., his return to art photography brought the Swedish-born Anthony full circle. “Before I was a director, I was into still photography—but I dropped it to direct,” he explains. “Now I’m back to making photographs.” Fine-art exhibitions that followed, including Red, White, Black and Blue and Victims & Avengers, have received widespread acclaim. Though he hadn’t done commercial assignments for some time, Anthony was tapped to create the launch-campaign images for the Sony Playstation3 for TBWA\Chiat\Day and still photography for the band My Chemical Romance’s album The Black Parade.

Anthony often works with friends—including the Deschanel sisters, Emily and Zooey, as well as their mother, Mary Jo—to create his haunting photos. “They have the perfect look for my imag­ery, a kind of haunting fragility,” says Anthony, who prefers to work with actors rather than models. “Actors really know how to inhabit a character.” His upcoming 2008 exhibition, called I’m the Most Normal Person I Know, at Corey Helford Gallery in Culver City, Calif., features actors in elaborately designed, twisted fairy-tale scenarios as well as characters played by “inanimate people” wearing masks made by the photographer.

Anthony’s Victorian sensibilities also show up in the equip­ment he favors, particularly vintage lenses. “I’ve been collect­ing old lenses for years,” he says. “My favorite is an old French lens from the early 1860s.” Anthony’s experimentation with older lenses has become an ongoing study.

Asked if he ever creates “happy” images, Anthony answers that although his images might contain dark humor, the answer is no. “Things are always more interesting with conflict,” he says. “That’s the essence of drama.” This storytelling instinct is abundantly evident in the meticulous preparation that char­acterizes Anthony’s theatrical, often one-man productions. “I develop the stories and characters; I collect and own many of the props and costumes you see in my work; and I often shoot in my house,” he explains, adding (before being asked), “Yes, that’s what my house looks like.”

www.chris-anthony.com