Chris Marchetti was a long time finding his calling. “I thought because growing up when I did, artists died on the vine, this was our programming. ‘You can do it as a sideline, a fun hobby, but if you turn pro, you won’t make it.’ Because art was so close to me, and I could do it easily ever since I was a child, I didn’t think it was important. Between those two factors I didn’t realize I was a professional photographer until I was in my early 30s. The clue I got was when other pros were hiring me to cover their double bookings and I still thought that it was just fun and not really a career.”
Before that epiphany, Chris hosted a live radio talk show and was employed as Ralph Nader’s media coordinator in Western Massachusetts, among other endeavors.
How the images developed
In the mid ‘80s Chris started shooting for several eastern magazinest and landed a job in South Africa with a big French exotic rose-growing company. He spent seven months there, and that experience cemented his direction. Returning to the east coast, he couldn’t stand the hustle, sold some interest in a magazine there, and bought a van. “After touring the country for six months I wound up in this little cow pasture called Prescott, Arizona. I remember walking into a rowdy rock’n’roll concert over at the Palace (which was a great rock’n’roll club then), and meeting a commercial and fine art photographer Pat Warwick, who is still a friend to this day. I thought ‘yeah, this place has potential,’ so I stayed.”
Since his arrival in Prescott in 1988 Chris has been fondly referred to in some social circles as OG, the ‘original gangster’ of photography. “I love it, not because other photographers went out of business per se, but because in terms of commercial photography I was the first to get here. Prescott Valley didn’t really exist, Chino was a farming community, and much of downtown Prescott was half-boarded up and dilapidated. The only real manufacturing was Ruger firearms, so I offered them my skill set and they became a good client for many years, as did others.”
The temple vision
“When I was 17 years old and running a 104° temperature, I dreamed I was in a majestic building and I was doing some kind of art in it, I wasn’t sure what. At the time I was sketching, painting, still in high school. And with this 104° temperature I had a vision of creating art in this unusual place.”
Decades later, Chris walked into the third-floor Masonic Temple space on Cortez Street to ask the tenant, a wedding-gown and formal-attire retail business, if they would represent his wedding photography. They were happy with his work and agreed. “I came up one day to give them a dinner-for-two gift card, in gratitude for representing me, and she had a ‘Going out of Business’ sign in her hand. I asked if the room had been rented, and when she said no, I stepped across the hall and signed the lease. I hadn’t thought of that dream ever until I walked in the room and thought, ‘that’s why I’m here.’ At that moment it all came back.”
If you haven’t experienced Marchetti’s third-floor studio in the Masonic Temple, it’s a powerful space, 1,800 square feet with an intricately designed 40-foot-high ceiling. The huge, carpeted floor accommodates photo shoots and all sorts of equipment. The studio is equipped with 12,000 watts of strobe power and 6,000 watts of continuous power. The walls are covered with original art, a one-of-a-kind place for creating images (by appointment only).
“For me the craft of photography — yes, you breathe artistry into your work — but the fun part is when you get out of your own way. It’s exciting to see the results that can happen when you let people just be themselves. I tell my students, if you’re going to go into people work like portraits, head shots, weddings, business profiles, anything to do with people, you darn well better love people. You don’t have to like them. What I mean by that is that you must look past the personality, past the fear. Because nobody likes to have their portrait done. No one. I think my record for portraits is 107 faculty members out at Embry-Riddle in a six-hour period. You do production work sometimes, and you’re not doing the same lighting because people are different, require different applications of the basic techniques. While you bring professionalism to each shoot, a lot of it ends up being those wonderful gifts you’re given along the way that you didn’t plan for.” Working with Chris (as I have numerous times over twenty years) you’re aware of his focus and professionalism. He doesn’t travel light, often bringing an assistant to help carry the various pieces of equipment he may need. His demeanor is on point, giving direction, and often interjecting humor. He’s an exceptionally talented member of a promotional team.
“I used to teach semi-formally for both Yavapai College and Prescott College, and other local schools. We would do seminars here in the studio because I had all the technology, strobe lights and things that the colleges didn’t have. I also taught high school and sometimes charter schools like Northpoint. I had so much fun with the kids. We would do projects together where they would introduce themselves on the street and tell a stranger they were on a project and ask if they could take their picture. The results became a show at the school itself. It was more fun than anything,”
Friendly manta rays in Bora Bora
When asked for a memory of the most unusual project he worked on, he is quick to reply. “I was in Bora Bora on assignment, architectural work for an engineering company, and ended up shooting a cookbook for a French baker there. Through that, I was asked to photograph sharks while scuba diving. I’d never been diving before and they didn’t have a cage, but after a few minutes of instruction I was in the water. Thankfully no sharks showed up, but a magnificent manta ray did, and I was amazed at how big they are when you’re next to them. It seemed friendly to me and kind of sked me to follow it, so I did. When we went around the reef there was a giant train of them. They were close and didn’t seem to care that I was there. I counted over 50 manta rays before I lost count and just went into the awe and majesty of it all. That would have to be the most amazing experience I have ever been given in my career, a fabulous memory.”
“I’ve shot countless magazine pages, cookbooks (including La Posada), magazine covers, Arizona Highways, Southwest Art and American Indian Art. A lot of photos that have been printed from this studio go into fine-art magazines advertising something that an artist has worked very hard to create.” (You can find a glimpse of the images at marchettiphoto.com.)
In addition to being the ‘OG of photography in Prescott,’ Chris has had assignments in South Africa, Hawaii, Mexico, New York City, Philadelphia, Houston, Asheville and Nantucket. He’s shot 23 cookbooks, three survival books, countless magazine pages and annual reports. He also shot portraits for seven retired judges that are featured for posterity in the main courtroom of the Yavapai County Courthouse. His work won an award in Paris for a ballet film produced and shot in Prescott.
Blink of an eye
Noting that Chris’ 40th anniversary in Prescott is coming up, we asked how things had changed for him. “It seems like the blink of an eye, and yes, I have chosen to slow down. I watch the kids go out and grab a camera for whatever reason and belly up to the bar of creativity, inasmuch as they can. Everyone is experimenting. Will there continue to be a need for professional still photography? Oh yeah. People are increasingly looking for relief from technology. Kids are starting to question social media. I think a lot of problems can be solved if we learn to trust again, not just trust one another, but trust in our own creative ability. So will AI replace everything else? No. AI will be what AI is, another creature, another entity. I don’t think it’s ‘artificial,’ I think it’s more alien than anything — it’s alien technology.”
“Does it mean that we are going to be better people because of this new technology, or are we going to continue to be self-absorbed, alienated from one another? I think trusting one another, relating to one another, doing things together in groups and not relying on technology will increase the quality of our lives.”
