Chris Boot (born 27 May 1960) is a British photography curator, book publisher, and has worked in a variety of other roles related to photography. He was director of London’s Photo Co-op, director of the London and New York offices of

Magnum Photos Magnum Photos is an international photographic cooperative owned by its photographer-members, with offices in Paris, New York City, London and Tokyo. It was founded in 1947 in Paris by photographers Robert Capa, David Seymour (photographer), Davi ...

, editorial director at

Phaidon Press Phaidon Press is a global publisher of books on art, architecture, design, fashion, photography, and popular culture, as well as cookbooks, children's books, and travel books. The company is based in London and New York City, with additional of ...

, founder of Chris Boot Ltd. a photography book publisher, and is now executive director of

Aperture Foundation Aperture Foundation is a nonprofit arts institution, founded in 1952 by Ansel Adams, Minor White, Barbara Morgan (photographer), Barbara Morgan, Dorothea Lange, Nancy Newhall, Beaumont Newhall, Ernest Louie, Melton Ferris, and Dody Warren. Their ...

. In these roles he has commissioned, edited or published a number of noteworthy photography books.

Life and work

Boot was born on 27 May 1960 in Kynnersley, Shropshire, England. He has a BA in photography from the

Polytechnic of Central London The University of Westminster is a public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first polytechnic to open in London. The Polytechnic formally received a Royal charter in Au ...

, and a BA in English literature from the

Royal Holloway College Royal Holloway, University of London (RH), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a member institution of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departmen ...

, University of London. Between 1984 and 1990, Boot was director of London’s Photo Co-op (since renamed Photofusion), an independent photography resource center and gallery. In 1990, he moved to

where he became director of its London and then, in 1995, of its New York office, until 1998. He was editorial director at

from 1998 to 2000. While at Phaidon, he wrote and edited ''Magnum Stories''; edited ''Robert Capa, the Definitive Collection'' by Richard Whelan and the ''Phaidon 55'' series of books from 2001 onwards, which included volumes on

Nan Goldin Nancy Goldin (born 1953) is an American photographer and activist. Her work explores in snapshot-style the emotions of the individual, in intimate relationships, and the Bohemian style, bohemian LGBT subcultural communities, especially dealing w ...

Mary Ellen Mark Mary Ellen Mark (March 20, 1940 – May 25, 2015) was an American photographer known for her photojournalism, documentary photography, portraiture, and advertising photography. She photographed people who were "away from mainstream society and t ...

, Shomei Tomatsu,

Dorothea Lange Dorothea Lange (born Dorothea Margaretta Nutzhorn; May 26, 1895 – October 11, 1965) was an American documentary photographer and photojournalist, best known for her Depression-era work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA). Lange' ...

and

W. Eugene Smith William Eugene Smith (December 30, 1918 – October 15, 1978) was an American photojournalist.Peacock, Scot. "W(illiam) Eugene Smith." ''Contemporary Authors Online'', Gale, 2003. ''Biography in Context''. He has been described as "perhaps the si ...

and

Walker Evans Walker Evans (November 3, 1903 – April 10, 1975) was an American photographer and photojournalist best known for his work for the Resettlement Administration and the Farm Security Administration (FSA) documenting the effects of the Great ...

; and commissioned ''The Photobook: A History'' by

Martin Parr Martin Parr (born 23 May 1952) is a British documentary photographer, photojournalist and photobook collector. He is known for his photographic projects that take an intimate, satirical and anthropological look at aspects of modern life, in p ...

and

Gerry Badger Gerald David "Gerry" Badger (born 1946) is an English writer and curator of photography, and a photographer. In 2018, he received the J Dudley Johnston Award from the Royal Photographic Society. Life and career Badger was born in 1946 in North ...

, ''Boring Postcards'' from the collection of Martin Parr, ''Outland'' by

Roger Ballen Roger Ballen (born April 11, 1950) is an American artist living in Johannesburg, South Africa, and working in its surrounds since the 1970s. His oeuvre, which spans five decades, began with the documentary photography field but evolved into the ...

, ''Snaps'' by

Elliott Erwitt Elliott Erwitt (born Elio Romano Erwitz, July 26, 1928 – November 29, 2023) was a French-born American advertising and documentary photographer known for his black and white candid photos of ironic and absurd situations within everyday setti ...

, and ''Heaven and Earth'' by

David Malin David Frederick Malin (born 28 March 1941) is a British-Australian astronomer and photographer. He is principally known for his spectacular colour images of astronomical objects. A galaxy is named after him, Malin 1, which he discovered in ...

and Katherine Roucoux. In 2001, he founded Chris Boot Ltd. in London, producing and publishing some forty photography books independently until 2011. From January 2011 until May 2021, Boot was executive director of

in New York. In 2024, Boot received an RPS (

The Royal Photographic Society The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is the world's oldest photographic society having been in continuous existence since 1853. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as th ...

) Award for Photography Publishing.

Books commissioned or edited by Boot apart from those published by Chris Boot Ltd.

Chris Boot Ltd.

His company Chris Boot Ltd., a London-based photographic publishing house and exhibition producer, launched in 2001 and operated until 2011. It published ''Lodz Ghetto Album'' by Henryk Ross (2004) and ''Things as They Are: Photojournalism in Context Since 1955'' by Mary Panzer and :fr:Christian Caujolle (2005), both of which won the ICP Infinity Award. When Boot left in 2011 his assistant Maxwell Anderson took over management and no new projects were initiated. Chris Boot Ltd. published the following books of photography:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boot, Chris Alumni of the Polytechnic of Central London Alumni of Royal Holloway, University of London Publishers (people) from London British curators Photography curators Living people 1960 births Publishing companies established in 2001 2001 establishments in England Visual arts publishing companies Book publishing companies of England Photography companies of the United Kingdom Businesspeople from Shropshire Photographers from Shropshire Kynnersley