Chip York began his
photography career in 1991, when he received a Korean War-relic 35mm
camera from his uncle. At first, photography was just another outlet
for Chip’s jack-of-all-trades tinkering tendencies.
But Chip’s models (mostly friends, and especially his wife and muse Anna-Marie) soon discovered that he could capture something in photography unlike anything they had seen before: their own splendor.
In the late ’90s, Chip became the stay-at-home parent for his two daughters, and began focusing more seriously on his photography. In 2004 he moved with his family to Lovettsville, Virginia, and began building the Secret Garden Studio.
Chip is dedicated to photographing real people in situations that reflect their personality. “Airbrushed fashion clones lack any ties to reality. They are glossy marketing tools, not true representations of character — so they have no charm,” he says. “I aim for a picture that is similar to how the subject is perceived in mind and memory, not just how they appear to the eye or in a quick snapshot.”
Chip has shown his photography at the Potomac Celtic Festival in Leesburg, Virginia; College Perk Coffee House in College Park, Maryland; at public libraries; and, since 2008, as part of the juried Western Loudoun Artists Studio Tour.
Photo credit for portrait of Chip: Tara Ward
But Chip’s models (mostly friends, and especially his wife and muse Anna-Marie) soon discovered that he could capture something in photography unlike anything they had seen before: their own splendor.
In the late ’90s, Chip became the stay-at-home parent for his two daughters, and began focusing more seriously on his photography. In 2004 he moved with his family to Lovettsville, Virginia, and began building the Secret Garden Studio.
Chip is dedicated to photographing real people in situations that reflect their personality. “Airbrushed fashion clones lack any ties to reality. They are glossy marketing tools, not true representations of character — so they have no charm,” he says. “I aim for a picture that is similar to how the subject is perceived in mind and memory, not just how they appear to the eye or in a quick snapshot.”
Chip has shown his photography at the Potomac Celtic Festival in Leesburg, Virginia; College Perk Coffee House in College Park, Maryland; at public libraries; and, since 2008, as part of the juried Western Loudoun Artists Studio Tour.
Photo credit for portrait of Chip: Tara Ward