Jonathan Chritchley

UK born Jonathan Chritchley is a popular member of the Fotoviva Team. His black and white photography is simply astounding and we have an incredible selection of his work in the Black and White section of the gallery. Passionate about photography since receiving his first camera as a small boy, Jonathan studied photography in the UK in the mid-1990’s. Having assisted several fashion, commercial and marine photographers, he uprooted and moved to the south of France 9 years ago, finally fulfilling his dream of photographing the ocean and the people whose lives revolve around it.

Jonathan is based in south-west France, where the formidable Bay of Biscay and the Atlantic swell provide a dramatic backdrop to his photographs. He also spends much of his time travelling to some of the best water locations in the world for a growing list of clients, working in and around the ocean to create his trademark dramatic images. Emphasizing an ethereal, atmospheric quality is imperative to him in reaching the more emotional as opposed to the literal and for this he mostly chooses to make photographs during bad weather and challenging lighting situations – dawn and dusk for example.

In early 2007, Jonathan started running photography workshops on the coast in south west France and in other locations. Jonathan uses Nikon digital camera bodies, Nikkor lenses & Fantasea underwater camera housings. A keen diver, surfer and swimmer, he lives in a converted fisherman’s cottage at the beach in south west France, 40km north of Biarritz, with his wife Belinda and children, Jack and Olivia.

His work has appeared all over the world, in magazines, galleries, books and even Athena and Next home stores. We have a large selection of Jonathan’s inspiring photography available at Fotoviva and there is more to follow.