Articles & Reviews

Reviews & Interviews

The Story of Christopher Burkett: Breathing Life Into the Print (PDF)

“My advice to the new generation of photographers is to find something positive and uplifting to do with your photography, something you feel inspired to do. If you’re not inspired how can you expect others to be inspired by your work? Avoid gimmicks or being different just to be different. Don’t force a style on your work, let it develop naturally. If you have photo instructors don’t let them put out the spark that lives within you. Believe in your work but be honest about it. Remember: we don’t see the world the way it is, we see it the way we are.”

What Makes a Great Print? (PDF)

“When I attempt to make a great photographic print, what do I look for? What process do I go through to make the image as perfect as possible? I have spent 40 years making my exhibition-quality Cibachrome prints and I’d like to explain what goes into making a superlative photographic print.”

Christopher Burkett’s Inner Light (PDF)

“Burkett is called one of the last representatives of the ‘golden age’ of American photography. As critics have said, in the works of the artist, “technical printing skills are closely intertwined with a special vision and accurate transmission of natural colors and shades of nature.” But it is difficult to convey in words the beauty of Burkett’s pictures - the nature in them is not only iridescent with all imaginable colors, but seems to glow from within. Each such photo on the gallery wall looks like a small window into some other world, more real than the one that surrounds us.”

Western Art & Architecture Magazine: “A Sense of Real Life” (May 2019)

“CHRISTOPHER BURKETT’S COLOR PHOTOGRAPHS achieve a dignity all but vanished in this digital age. His prints convey the natural world through a sense of craftsmanship and technical mastery that, like the inspiration for their creation, can only be called spiritual.” Read more…

Hasselblad Masters Award

Christopher Burkett was honored to receive the 2004 Hasselblad Masters award. Each year Hasselblad hand selects 12 photographers from around the world to recognize their work and achievements. As part of Hasselblad’s recognition, Christopher was featured in the spring edition of Forum magazine. In addition, Christopher and his fellow Hasselblad Masters were featured in the Hasselblad 2004 calendar and had an exhibition show on October 1st, 2004 at Hasselblad’s world headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden. Read more…

Let There Be Light! A Talk with Christopher Burkett

A review of Christopher Burkett’s book, Intimations of Paradise From the Bloomsbury Review, November/December 2000

Burkett’s color-suffused images, which often look more like paintings than like photographs, have variously been described as “transcendent,” “serene,” “mystical,” “vital,” and “breathtaking.” The book, however, is even better to some; many find themselves beaming as they page through it for the first time. This may be because Burkett’s photos shine forth with such an inner radiance and affection that they catch us completely off-guard.

Photos celebrate glories of nature

A review of Burkett’s exhibition at the Joseph Bellows Gallery, La Jolla, CA From the San Diego Union-Tribune, December 16, 1999

Burkett has an extraordinary eye for framing nature, for making his rectangular windows onto it seem as if they were destined to be pictures.

In this respect, he is a lot like Ansel Adams. He isn’t grounded in one locale, as Adams was with Yosemite. But the same reverence is palpable…

Burkett’s Subtle, Powerful Change

A review of his exhibition at the Kathleen Ewing Gallery, Washington D.C. From The Washington Post, October 28, 1999

Christopher Burkett and his wife, Ruth, were heading home to Oregon in1989, on the last leg of an exhausting, 15,000-mile car trip that had taken them all over the United States. The couple had been searching out the scenes of pristine nature that Christopher captures in lyrical photographs suffused with a spark of divinity. Ruth was driving while her husband slept. Then she saw the apple tree.

Review of “Intimations of Paradise”

From the Book Reader, Fall/Winter 1999

One of the best book gifts in any year. The oversized pages carry splendid photographs of the land from every part of America-and each photograph is a life, a consciousness, a meaning that forms itself into arms and legs and beating hearts….Intimations is not just a book. It’s a collection of destinies, and a unified spirit of exaltation.

In Certain Light

An interview with Christopher Burkett from View Camera Magazine.

The truth is that if we lived… in a state of divine grace, everything would be even more real. That’s exactly what I’m trying to portray in my photography, that moment of…. I don’t like to put a word on it because it’s too limiting. As soon as you put a word on it, it becomes a concept rather than a reality. And what I’m trying to present with my photography is that almost super real quality, not fake real, but super real. I’m trying to show something that is precious and real: something that most people do not see.

Excelling in the Field

A review of Christopher Burkett’s work from the Washington Post.

Burkett…uses his masterly eye and remarkable printing skills to catch the divine beauty of nature untouched by man. “The purpose of my photography is to provide a brief, if somewhat veiled, glimpse into that clear and brilliant world of light and power,” Burkett wrote in his artist’s statement.

Letter from Jimmy Carter

The Former President of the United States sends kind words to Christopher Burkett regarding his book, Intimations of Paradise.

Intimations of Paradise wins an Award

View the award Christopher Burkett received from the North American Booksellers Exchange for his book “Intimations of Paradise.”