Christopher Voelker

Christopher Voelker (born February 2, 1961 in Los Angeles, California - Died September 11, 2014) was an American photographer.

Voelker was a full-time wheelchair user due to a spinal cord injury (quadriplegia) from a high-speed, accident at 16.

He was predominantly self-taught, freelance studio photographer specializing in capturing counter-points of the human landscape in large-format (Hasselblad and Linhof), black and white. Hand developed prints which are an interpretation of his negatives are characterized by starkly voluptuous contrasts of body and space. The prints are expressions of something that is both personal and available for individual interpretation. With the arrival of digital photography it was a challenge that Voelker embraced. His true love, however, remained the mystery of emulsion; and film is the medium he reserves for his artistic output.

Actress, choreographer, and director Debbie Allen described Voelker's work as: filled with emotion, beauty and thought. He shadows the light and lights the dark that speaks with image, like the eye of poetry to the soul. and actor Robert David Hall (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation) said: I have my photograph shot constantly and normally, I hate it... Working with Christopher has been a loose and joyful collaboration.

He became the first photographer with a mobility impairment to work professionally for major studios and TV networks such as Universal, Paramount, Touchstone, NBC, CBS, Lorimar Productions, UPN, WB and CW networks. Voelker has also photographed such artists as Mick Fleetwood, Billy Zane, Carmen Electra, Robert David Hall, Christina Applegate, Bow Wow, Beyoncé, Chris Burke, Brandy, Chingy, Omarion, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia, Angela Simmons and Tony Orlando.

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