Christian Padron is a filmmaker and photographer based in Harlem. A Parsons photographic scholar and MFA graduate, Christian’s work celebrates culture while addressing our complicated status in society at large.
Christian’s brand work includes projects with the NBA, Google, Visa, Spotify, Instagram, Dell, and Vans. For Droga5, Christian directed “The Reckoning,” for the wellness brand Shine, featuring meditations voiced by mostly Black womxn campaigning for a more inclusive world of mental health support. The spot was an Ad Age Editor’s Pick.
Christian’s on-going collaboration with artist, activist and composer Samora Pinderhughes includes multiple music film projects: “Process,” is about grieving and loss amidst the pandemic and premature death caused by systems of white supremacy. It won the Audience Award for Best Experimental Film at BlackStar Film Fest and was an official selection at LA Black Film Festival. “Grief,” commissioned by Carnegie Hall, is a short film that tells stories of victims of the prison industrial complex. “Masculinity,” a film that considers how men are taught to perform masculinity in society, was an official selection at Aesthetica Short Film Festival and HollyShorts Film Festival.
For Spotify, Christian wrote and directed “Music Is Black History,” a film highlighting six under-celebrated moments and figures in history, including The Harlem Cultural Festival, the Chitlin Circuit Black of the Jim Crow era, modern Afro-Latinx hip-hop, and artists such as disco queen Sylvester and rock’n roll pioneer Rosetta Tharpe.
Christian is a winner of Redefining the Image of Black Masculinity, an Aperture competition organized with the Campaign for Black Male Achievement, that asked photographers to submit images that redefine the Black male experience.
In music, Christian has made clips for Alicia Keys, The Lox, Cousin Neighbour’s JGivens and John Givez.
