Aloha!

My name is Christian Cook, I was born and raised in Hawai’i on a small island called Kaua’i. I’ve been taking photos most of my life, and have had the good fortune of booking amazing clients and having my images featured in books & magazines. When I was 6 years old my family’s home was destroyed in Hurricane Iniki with us inside of it, and black and white photos I took of the damage with my father’s 35mm film camera ended up being published in the book Kauai: In The eye of Iniki by Myles Ludwig. I was hooked!

Facing our home and total island being destroyed after Iniki, my parents thought it would be a good time to pursue their dream of being Christian missionaries, and we eventually ended up in the Philipines & Japan as a family, my memories of my parents and co. providing healthcare to the people living on Smokey Mountain in the 90s is a core memory that fuels my empathy and compassion, characteristics I continue to bring to my creative work as a photographer. I eventually helped at orphanages in Thailand as a teenager, and a big ambition for my career is to produce charity supportive documentary work in India and Asia.

I eventually got into the darkroom at Kapa’a High School around 1999 when I was a freshman, and have been obsessed with process and developing 35mm film since then. I continued studying at UH Manoa where I graduated with a degree in Graphic Design & Printmaking…Post-graduation saw me in Portland, OR working as a bike messenger and shooting photos of models and Portland’s vibrant 2008 hipster scene and rock concerts.

Life was a blur after Portland - Back home to Hawai’i to connect with my roots, living on the North Shore of O’ahu during the emergence of Instagram, shooting photos with future stars like Jay Alvarrez, hanging with Jamie O’Brien, taking photos inside of huge barreling waves…It was an inspiring and formative time in my life…Also a time when I took the photos for my first book VANLIFE a documentary photo book shot on 35mm film capturing the time in my life in my 20’s when I lived out of a van on O’ahu.

Tokyo followed the North Shore, and eventually New York City. The images and experiences of my youth have drawn me across the planet and I continue to travel and experience life through my lenses; always with the desire to share these images and experiences with the world, so that you can experience the wonder and awe I experience in the amazing gift called life. I currently am in Montana as I write this, and always open to traveling for work.

I’m hoping to work with you soon - send me an email at christianrichardcook@gmail.comnd timeless imagery together, for your family, or your business, or your publication. I can’t wait to hear from you.

Warmly,

Christian Richard Cook