As a kid in the mid-90s, I played a lot of tennis, so anything NikeCourt, but I think my first pair of sneakers were Reebok Pumps. My grandparents gifted them after they visited Italy.
Outside of that, I was an Air Max kid; both apparel and the sneaker that triggered me and still does to this day is the Air Max 90 Infrared. Currently on pairs 7 and 8 (stocked).
It's the 2005 release of the Pigeon dunk in NYC. Seeing photos and visions of that situation was probably the first time we were really exposed to that kind of hype from afar—that and occasionally following the chat on the Sneaker Freaker forum, which was pretty iconic looking back.
For me, I get, for some reason, a little initial sense of guilt and sadness that they will never look this good again, but you have to do the right thing and wear them! When wearing new sneakers, feelings can really depend if I've got around to protecting them first.
Organically, as its just a mixture of my interests… The sneakers and streetwear stuff was always there and photography was also there so they just found each other. There’s no coincidence though with the growth of social media the sneaker culture has exploded which means photos of sneakers. They’re fun to shoot, cool and important to document for the culture.
Um I think any shoe that’s got some really nice details in it… Materials that catch light and reveal texture is nice. My all-time favourite sneaker which is probably my all-time favourite to shoot also are my Air Max 1 Atmos Elephants.
Teddy Santis with Aime and New Balance is hard to go past for me; timeless and sporty aesthetic. Classic Range Rover and Porsche collaborations got me interested. And another New Yorker - Ronnie Fieg continues to hit with the Kith Monday program, recently released with Wilson, BMW, Roger Federer, NB, and Contax, a few of my favorites.
Acne Studios x Nike
Grey 990v5s (Beaters), AM90 Infrared (Beaters x2), 991 ALD, AM1 Patta Monarchs, and 990v3 Marblehead Incense are on my current rotation.
Air Max 90 360 One Time Only Infrared is my dream hype sneaker.
My camera and that’s really it. I almost always have it with me in some capacity and when I can’t we always have our phones. Aside from that my headphones are important if I’m out shooting on the street I just work better when there’s a soundtrack to what I’m seeing through the lens music takes me to a creative head space.
Instagram: @chrisc.jpg
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