Christopher Popp, a native of West Germany, became interested in photography as a child when he watched his father develop B&W photos in the dark room of the family photo store. After graduating from Photography School in Kiel, Germany, he trained as an assistant cameraman and operator at German TV's (ZDF) Advanced Training Division. Christopher then worked as a first assistant cameraman and quickly moved up to operator and additional cinematographer for German TV (ZDF) on TV features and TV series in Germany and on documentaries that were shot in Egypt, Libya, Kenya, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, Israel, Italy, Switzerland, France, Canada and the United States which covered diverse topics such as Mine Searching in Libya, Famous Kenyan Olympic Runners, or A Train Voyage in Egypt, that were broadcasted worldwide.
He shot the Time Lapse sequence for the film Music of Kurt Weill: September Songs, and was the additional cinematographer on the film War Symphonies: Shostakovich, two German/Canadian co-productions which won several International Emmy Awards as well as Gemini Awards.
Pursuing his passion, Christopher moved to Los Angeles to attend the American Film Institute’s (AFI) Conservatory in 1996, and upon graduating in 1999, received the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Gregg Toland Heritage Award for the outstanding cinematography in his AFI thesis film Shadows. The award was presented at the 14th Annual ASC Awards in 2000, and is named after legendary cinematographer Gregg Toland, who is best known for having photographed Orson Welles' Citizen Kane.
In 2003, Christopher spent 149 days on location in India shooting the 185 minute Bollywood motion picture Lakshya. He achieved the highest crane shot in feature film history at 17,796 feet in the Himalaya Mountains, and received Best Cinematography Nominations at the 11th Star Screen Awards, the Bollywood Awards, and won Best Cinematography at the Global Indian Film Awards - GIFA Awards - and Best Cinematography at the 50th Annual Filmfare Awards (the Indian equivalent of the Academy Award) for his work in 2005.
Other feature film credits include The Tribe/The Forgotten Ones starring Jewel Staite (Stargate Atlantis, Firefly) and Kellan Lutz (Twilight) which was shot on location in Costa Rica and on sound stages in Los Angeles, Night Train starring Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon), Leelee Sobieski (Eyes Wide Shut), Steve Zahn (Sahara) and Matthias Schweighofer (The Red Baron) and Balls to the Wall directed by Penelope Spheeris (Wayne’s World, The Decline of Western Civilization.)
Television credits include Five, an anthology of five short films exploring the impact of Breast Cancer on people’s lives directed by Jennifer Aniston, Patty Jenkins, Alicia Keys, Demi Moore, and Penelope Spheeris. The project was executive produced by Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Chinoy, Kristin Hahn (The Departed, The Switch) Marta Kauffman (Friends), Francesca Silvestri and Paula Wagner (Mission: Impossible) for Sony Pictures Television.
Films that Christopher has shot or contributed to have been screened at major film festivals in the US and abroad, played theatrically, have been released on DVD, and aired on television.
His work has been recognized in such publications as the American Cinematographer Magazine, Eastman Kodak’s InCamera, the German ‘Film&TV Kameramann’ magazine, Arri News, SHOOT and the ICG magazine.
Christopher is a member of the International Cinematographers Guild Local 600.