Whenever Cris is home in Cape Town, she’s bright-eyed and buzzing – back with her mountain, the crashing ocean waves and among the humans & homies that are her first and foremost inspiration before all else. Last year – although it feels much, much longer ago – we had a conversation that I wrote about here, so this conversation is volume 2; and for a ‘fashion’ photographer (we get into that), we discuss very little fashion. This is precisely why I think Cris remains one of the most critical and growing forces in the industry, because in an uncontrived and absolutely sincere way; Cris’ work is human-centric, and fashion happens to be the art-form that she has found to be the most interesting means to capture the creative anima of people; from the designers’ and houses’ collections, to the models and street-fashion crowds alike. We had planned to discuss retrospective takes on Cris’ summer season in Milan, Paris and London – and end up uncovering the thread of consciousness that has seemed to emerge as Cris’ anchor in all aspects of her life. Perched on the curbside at Clarke’s, our conversation reminds me why story-telling and conversation stay coursing through my veins.
Who said you can’t find enlightenment while working in fashion?
“Summer was great and being at the couture shows – I love it so much – everything that gets produced is a reminder of, ‘oh this why we do this’ in this industry. It gives me a refuel to keep pushing in what is a highly stressful, tight scheduling of shows that are months of work crammed into two weeks of high-pressured showcases.” Cris says, having landed a few days ago back in Cape Town. Cris’ IG expresses swathes of editorial level BTS at some of the most prestigious and prolific fashion labels on the entire planet – from Chanel, to Iris Van Herpen and Loewe. Cris has become a fixture in and of herself during fashion week, forging relationships – living bi-continetally in many ways between Europe and Africa. This year has seen Cris partnering with the likes of Net-A-Porter, British Council and Vogue Magazine; seeding a reputation for exceptionally lit and captured moments, often set for release almost as they happen; keeping up with the ceaseless demand for fashion content on social media. Working with Vogue to create reels hot-off-the-press, Cris comments on the changing nature of being an image-maker in an increasingly digital world; “We had been speaking about doing reels in the weeks leading up to it, and I had to remind myself that adapting and rolling with the times is necessary. This is what is performing well – and while reels are not the most artistically nourishing, I also have to be responsible with my livelihood, and do the work that has been offered to me by spaces I’ve only ever dreamed of working with. Separating my ego has been critical – and actually, I’m happy for my ego to die several times a day lately – it opens up space for spontaneity and nourishment that I wouldn’t have arrived to meet on my own.” The original concerns for Cris lay in the seemingly indistinguishability that cellphones have created between content creators and photographers – would she be taken seriously, backstage with an iPhone in hand instead of her gear? Cris says, “It comes back to this ego-death thing. I have to stand for myself in situations where I get pushed out the way without my camera, because I didn’t need to carry it around when doing the reels, so people think I’m just there to fan over the show. Asserting my ground, and being grounded enough in my work, is teaching me to value myself before I need the value of anyone around me.”
Physically, mentally and emotionally demanding – the life of constant travel and movement is intrinsic to Cris’ career. A theme she has had to grapple with is knowing her heart belongs in South Africa, but that her vision for her career has required spending months abroad – and in this way, Cris is no stranger to strong doses of existential crises; “I had one of those experiences of like, take the hard drive and throw it in the ocean – that I had never made a single good photo – and someone I spoke to early this year blurted out to me that I could never be a successful fashion photographer if I wasn’t based out of Europe. It was someone that I very much respect in the industry, and my jaw dropped – that statement burned into me for weeks after that. Every editor and person I met for a week after that, I asked them if they thought this was true. Thankfully, I was deterred from that belief – and reminded that South Africa is up and coming, it’s a prime place to be and to be from. To place a geographic limitation on anyone’s success is just the close-minded attitude that has driven so much of fashion being centralised to Europe.”
We’re seeing, more than ever, the power and might of other regions in the world that are set to supersede the old guard and create a new way of fashion expression.
For Cris, her awakening as a being on this earth has been fundamental to how she continues to envision and act out her career. Meditating between shows and back stage for at least 10 minutes is part of her overall energetic well being – and on how her consciousness has informed the last year, she says, “I listened to a podcast by Ram Dass, and he was talking about the idea of doing our work – whatever it is and whoever we are – as an act of service to others and God. This was five days into fashion week, this past season, and it reminded me that it’s not necessarily about image-making. In my soul, it lights me up to light other people – and I have a lot of fun with people, and I have this opportunity to capture people in their full presence. I have an ability to energise people and it’s taken a long time to be able to acknowledge that. How can I bring joy to other people?” The mark of an artist is the ability to diversify their practice – and remain ever-aware of what motivates their reasoning for creating, “Just before I left Cape Town in May, I put something on my Instagram saying I wanted to take portraits of people. I managed to do it with two people – and it really ignited something in my soul. One of the people, Johan from The Other Radio – and I did this together, where we spent the day together connecting and I shot images of him candidly. It ended up being one of the most meaningful experiences I’ve had this year. I had started to get in touch with my spirituality again, and with that came a wobble around whether fashion photography fulfilled me – am I contributing to something that’s not actually meaningful? If I slow down the outcome of what I create, and focus on being present with the creation, magic happens. With Johan, the images came out of us talking – it just started pouring out of us, talking about sex, love, death – parents, pain – or getting older and relating to the pain of being an adult, and self-acceptance. We cried, laughed and my heart was racing – it was like we were creating and deepening an energy of revealing ourselves to each other. That is the truth and intimacy of art – that sharing and connection – and it’s the process I’ve now realised I need to return to again and again as a photographer.”
Soon after our conversation, Cris is off again – and by the time this article is released, she will have been in Copenhagen for fashion week. It’s clear that Cris’ spirit is perhaps disguised as a fashion photographer; but her intention and mission is so much deeper – to be a beacon of light, and an anchor in love, no matter the context or city. As the Zen Buddhist saying goes; before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water – after enlightenment? Chop wood and carry water. The divine in the mundane, and the utter joy of being human and embracing it all – is precisely what spiritual mastery entails.
