Who Is Christopher Grabowski and What Is His Photography Background?

Updated

Christopher Grabowski is a visual storyteller, photographer, and writer based at mediumlight.com. His photographs and articles have appeared in major publications including the Globe and Mail, The Washington Post, Financial Times, El Mundo, Utne Reader, Neue Zurcher Zeitung, MacLean's, Ottawa Citizen, Geist, and Tyee. His work spans photojournalism, documentary photography, portraits, and series, and has been exhibited in Canada, Poland, Holland, and Germany.

Professional Background

Grabowski works across several areas of photography and journalism:

  • Photojournalism and documentary photography — the focus of his published work and his teaching
  • Portraits — listed among his story categories
  • Series — long-form photographic projects
  • Writing — his articles have appeared alongside his photographs in the publications listed above

Awards and Recognition

His work has received recognition in both photojournalism and journalism:

Award Result Year
Michener-Deacon Fellowship Received 1999
Western Magazine Awards Gold 2004
Western Magazine Awards Finalist 2008, 2003
Summit Creative Awards (contributor) Gold 2005
Canadian Association of Journalists Awards Finalist 2004
Advertising and Design Club of Canada Silver 1996

The Michener-Deacon Fellowship is described as Canada's premier award encouraging the pursuit of investigative journalism that serves the public interest.

Grants

His work has been supported by grants from the Vancouver Foundation, City of Vancouver, Ontario Arts Council, British Columbia Arts Council, Hamber Foundation, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Willows Foundation, and CIDA.

Exhibitions

Selected exhibitions include:

  • From Snowy Mountain — Roundhouse, Vancouver, 2010
  • Guns, Kites and Dreams: Images of Afghanistan — Group Exhibition, Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, Halifax, 2004–2005
  • Documents and Dreams — Group Exhibition, Vancouver, Halifax, 2003–2004
  • The Gift — Gallery WM, Amsterdam, 2000
  • Facing The Eastside — Roundhouse, Vancouver, 1998
  • Licht Blicke — Group Exhibition, Hamelin, Germany, 1991
  • Photograffiti und Photographien — Amerika Haus, Hannover, Germany, 1989
  • Autumn in New York and Other Stories — Galerie fur Photographie, Braunschweig, Germany, 1988

Teaching

Grabowski has taught photography at several institutions:

  • Teacher at LaSalle Vancouver College in the Professional Photography Diploma program, 2017
  • Designer and instructor of master classes at Simon Fraser University and Thetyee.ca, focused on photojournalism and documentary photography for nonprofit organizations
  • Teacher at Focal Point: The Visual Arts Learning Center, 2006–2009

Contact

He can be reached at [email protected] or 604-868-3630.