Christopher Makos

Christopher Makos (born 1948) is an American photographer and visual artist. He is known for his photographs of queer icons and pop stars, and of the male body.

A friend and collaborator of pop artist Andy Warhol, Makos was a chronicler of New York's underground club culture in the 1970s and 1980s. His photographs have been published in various publications such as Interview, Rolling Stone, House & Garden, Connoisseur, New York Magazine, Esquire, Genre, and People. He has had several exhibitions, and his works are included in the holdings of major museums and private collections.

Life and career Christopher Makos was born in 1948 in Lowell, Massachusetts. After his parents divorced when he was twelve, he moved to El Monte, California, with his mother.

Makos dated actor Anthony Perkins, who gave him a Nikon camera for his birthday.

His first solo exhibition, "Pictures From A Suitcase," was at the Foto Gallery in New York from December 1974 to January 1975. At the time, Makos had the same art dealer as photographer Man Ray. Throughout that weekend, Makos picked up a lot of photographic tips from Man Ray, who advised him to "obey your first impression." From September to October 1977, an exhibition of his photos was displayed at the Andrew Crispo Gallery in New York. Makos was the art director for the 1979 photo book Andy Warhol's Exposures. thumb alt=Makos at work in his studio, 2007Makos dated Robert Hayes, who was the assistant editor for Interview, and later artist Peter Wise.

Makos continued to worked on 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 Warhol. His book, Warhol: A Photographic Memoir (1989, New American Library), chronicled his friendship and extensive travels with Warhol in photos.

Makos' photographs have been published in Rolling Stone, House & Garden, Connoisseur, New York Magazine, Esquire, Genre and People, among others. His portrait of Warhol wrapped in a flag was featured on the front cover of the Spring 1990 issue of the Smithsonian Studies, the academic journal of the Smithsonian Institution. His photographs of Warhol, Keith Haring, Tennessee Williams, and others have been auctioned regularly. Makos' Icons portfolio is a collection of silkscreen portraits Warhol, Elizabeth Taylor, Salvador Dalí, John Lennon, and Mick Jagger.

Makos lives in the West Village neighborhood of Manhattan.

Books