Chris Coekin was born in Leicester and is now based in London. His work is predominantly concerned with contemporary British culture. His work is frequently based upon personal experiences and is often collaborative. He works mainly with photography and often combines, text, ephemera, audio and archival imagery within his projects. His work has been exhibited widely including shows at: The Photographers’ Gallery London, Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Belfast Exposed, Foam Museum Amsterdam, People’s History Museum Manchester, Stephen Bulger Gallery Canada. He has had solo shows at the Lodz Festival Poland, the Orange Festival and the Dali International Photography Festival China. Chris has published three books, Knock Three Times (Dewi Lewis Publishing, 2006) The Hitcher (Walkout/The Photographers’ Gallery, 2007) and The Altogether (Walkout/Books, 2011). He set up his publishing imprint, Walkout/Productions in 2007. He is also Senior lecturer on the BA Photography, University for the Creative Arts.

QUOTES
“For Coekin, to photograph is to move backwards and forwards in time – to recover and discover why things are the way they are. In attending to things that are under threat his photography is able to grasp the fragility of the present.” David Campany

“…(Knock Three Times) a warm and engaging book filled with images that are both poignant and often very, very funny.” The Times Literary Supplement

“ Ladies and gentleman, please put your hands together for this talented young lad, because this really is a sensational book…” Vic Reeves

“Treating his subjects with an intriguing mix of intimacy and detachment Coekin has a sharp eye for capturing the subtlest of gestures.” Creative Review

“For the moment, I might simply suggest putting Kerouac’s (On the Road) re issued classic on your must-read list right next to Coekin’s tribute to the road (The Hitcher).” Photo-Eye, Avis Cardella

“We see him frustrated, wet and cold, waiting in a lay-by, or carefree and relaxed. We see his painful blistered and sun burnt feet – evidence of hardship and suffering for his art. This is what makes his work stand apart from so many others…rarely is such a central core of a body of work the artist himself. This relates Coekin’s practice more to performance art than to photography, with the artist as protagonist.” Camilla Brown

"Coekin is a very sharp observer, motivated by a desire to understand the world around him, a world beset with social structures, rules, systems and conventions. He questions his place in the world – and that world is Britain." Rodrigo Orrantia