Chris Killip was born on the Isle of Man. He was a Professor of Visual and Environmental Studies at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, from 1991 to 2017. He is well known for his gritty black-and-white photographs of people and places, particularly documenting the struggling communities in Northeast England during the 1970s and 1980s.
Killip is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Henri Cartier-Bresson Award (for In Flagrante). He has exhibited worldwide, written extensively, appeared on radio and television, and has curated many exhibitions.