Chris Buck’s Chris Bucks, Again
A few months ago, I received an email from Sarah Stangle, a long time colleague and the partner of my San Francisco Chris Buck. She was letting me know that Chris’ position as the city’s Urban Forester was ending after 20 years and she was throwing him a retirement party.
This was fun news, as I’d stay in touch with Chris over the years. He is a real connoisseur of underground literary arts, and generously gave me stellar advice on the trees on my property.
And then she added that she’d like to mount a full show of my Chris Buck’s Chris Buck series in concert with Chris’ event. This came in an email, so I couldn’t get a full read on it. Was this a throwaway joke? Was it an invitation to collaborate?
The Namesake series is the most ambitious project I’d ever taken on, even though it had modest beginnings.
In 2000 I received an email from a fellow congratulating me on my professional website. I didn’t take too much notice until I saw that it was signed by “Christopher Buck.“ Chris was a seller of Georgian-era furniture in Kent, England and he was hoping to get that simple domain name that is still my flagship online presence.
From there, we had a friendly back-and-forth and it prompted me to do an online search of my full name. I was surprised and delighted by a couple of the images that turned up.
One was a young real estate agent in Las Vegas, pictured in an ill-fitting suit, a little too grown-up for his boyish appearance. Immediately, I thought, “If I could find a dozen guys like this, it would make for a quick, funny promotional piece.” I could see it already: The Chris Bucks. A collection of inviting portraits of people sharing my full name, with brand reinforcement on every page!
I never found that charming young broker out of Las Vegas, but I began the project in ernest. But what I initially imagined as quick headshots, turned into something more ambitious. I was a portrait photographer who was increasingly taking his craft more seriously, and it just seemed wrong that I should make a promotional piece with casual throwaway photos. Instead, it became a chance to push harder.
The series was shot for 18 years, with a printed promotional piece mailed out in 2018. Revisiting them now, the best of these pictures show me working to stretch beyond my capabilities.
I was trying to make engaging portraits of regular folks without being over the top or too conceptual. Simple, yet engaging. A high order, and one that was not always successful. Nevertheless, it proved important for my real people portraits after this, like the Gentlemen‘s Club book, as well as adding some depth to my celebrity portraits of the last decade.
The San Francisco exhibition of the Namesake series is presented by 3rd St Creative Artery and is up now at Cafe Alma, near Hunter’s Point in San Francisco. There’s an opening event this Saturday, December 13, and I’ll be doing an afternoon talk with arborist Chris Buck on Saturday, January 17 at the space. Hopefully we’ll see you there!
Top Image: The Namesake graphic, initial design by de.MO, 2018.
Second Image: San Francisco Chris Buck, photographed at Hunter’s Point, CA, June 11, 2006.
Third Image: Chris with partner Sarah Stangle, on site for the 2006 sitting.
Fourth Image: Installation of the 2025 exhibition at Cafe Alma. Photo by Sarah Stangle.
Bottom Image: Chris Buck of San Francisco inspects his installed portrait. Photo by Sarah Stangle.