Christopher Makos (born 1948)[1] is an American photographer and visual artist. Makos is known for his photographs of queer icons and pop stars, and of the male body.[2] Makos apprenticed with photographer
Man Ray, and assisted and collaborated with
Andy Warhol.
Chris Makos was born in 1948 in
Lowell, Massachusetts, but grew up in
California before moving to Paris.[1][6]
In 1976, he worked as an apprentice with
Man Ray in
Fregenae, Italy.[7] He met Andy Warhol in 1977, and became more visible in the Warhol social circle around 1979 and 1980.[8][9] During that time Makos worked a photo assistant for Warhol and was involved with the publication of the 1979 art photo book, "Andy Warhol's Exposures".[8][10][11] His book, Warhol: A Photographic Memoir (1989, New American Library), chronicled his friendship and extensive travels with Warhol in photos.[12]
Since the early 1970s, Makos has worked at developing a style of boldly graphic photojournalism. His photographs have been the subject of numerous exhibitions both in galleries and museums throughout the United States, Europe and Japan and have appeared in countless magazines and newspapers worldwide. He has been a seminal figure in the contemporary art scene in New York. He is responsible for introducing the work of
Jean-Michel Basquiat and
Keith Haring to Andy Warhol.[13]