Chrystal Callahan
Chrystal Callahan , is a Toronto-born American Canadian visual artist, photographer, journalist and fashion model.
Career[edit]
In 2015, Callahan released the photo series, "The Dirty War - Selfies of Terrorism, Virtue and Covert Sexuality"[1] Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine which appeared in ELLE Magazine.[1] Callahan works in series, typically photographing herself in a range of attires and props. She shoots her photos alone in her studio, embracing various roles as the subject, director, hair & make-up artist, stylist, model and photographer.
Callahan began hosting Highlights of the Week with Chrystal Callahan in June, 2009. It was a subtitled English-language television show in Russia's North Caucasus Republic of Chechnya.
In 2008, Callahan wrote, produced and directed Greco Roman Grozny, a film about three teens attempting to escape war torn Chechnya through competitive Greco Roman wrestling. [2]
In July 2010, Callahan launched a new program called "Chechnya Through The Eyes of Chrystal Callahan". It is focused on travel / tourist destinations in the Chechen Republic, Islam and Chechen Culture.
Callahan has been dubbed the "Maverick Model". She embarked on a singing career under the stage name of KRISTALL and became a popstar in the North Caucasus. She performed songs in the Russian and Chechen language.[3]
Criticism and praise[edit]
Callahan has had some criticism for working in Chechnya. Critics see her as a supporter of pro-Russian Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov and accuse her of being a propaganda tool for the Chechen government. Callahan has been compared to Walter Duranty, the British journalist who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1932 for a set of stories written in 1931 on the Soviet Union.[3][4] CNN featured Callahan in the summer of 2010 and credited her as being a symbol of stability and peace after years of conflict in the unstable region.[3][1] [5][4][6][7]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Rebecca Moss (20 January 2015). "Chrystal Callahan's 'The Dirty War' Photo Project". ELLE.
- ^ "Greco-Roman Grozny (2008)". IMDb. 15 June 2008.
- ^ a b c "Canadian model finds fame in Chechnya". cnn.com.
- ^ a b Bigg, Claire (14 January 2010). "Canadian Model Unlikely New Face Of Chechen TV". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty.
- ^ "Canadian model finds fame in Chechnya". cnn.com.
- ^ "Toronto model the beautiful face of a beastly regime". thestar.com. 9 August 2009.
- ^ "Canadian Model Hosts a News Show in Chechnya". The Huffington Post. 13 July 2009.
External links[edit]
- Official website
- Grozny Gossip Archived 2018-12-04 at the Wayback Machine, blog during her time in Chechnya
- Female models from Ontario
- Canadian television hosts
- Canadian photographers
- Canadian women artists
- Canadian women photographers
- American women photographers
- Russian television personalities
- Living people
- Artists from Toronto
- Canadian women television hosts
- Russian women television presenters
- American women television hosts
- 21st-century American women