Darius D. Himes

Based in New York City, Darius D. Himes has served as the International Head of Photographs for Christie’s since 2014, overseeing a global team that produces auctions and exhibitions for the renowned auction house. During his tenure, he has conducted public interviews with figures such as Sir Elton John, Richard Gere, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Mona Kuhn, Todd Hido, and Bruce Davidson. Under his leadership, Christie’s achieved a landmark moment with the sale of Justin Aversano’s Twin Flames NFT in October 2021—the first photographic NFT ever sold by a major auction house.

Before joining Christie’s, Himes was Director of Fraenkel Gallery in San Francisco from 2011 to 2014, where he worked closely with the gallery’s roster of artists and publishing program. In 2007, he co-founded Radius Books, a non-profit publisher of books on photography and the visual arts, where he continues to serve on the Board. While working with established artists such as John McCracken and Lee Friedlander, he is particularly proud of publishing the first monographs of more than a dozen emerging artists, including Renate Aller, Colleen Plumb, Aaron Huey, Janelle Lynch, Michael Lundgren, Alison Rossiter, and Meghann Riepenhoff.

Earlier in his career, Himes was the founding editor of photo-eye Booklist, a quarterly journal dedicated to photography books, published from 2002 to 2007. As a lecturer and writer, he has contributed to Aperture, The Photobook Review, Blind Spot, Bookforum, FOAM, and BOMB.

Himes holds a Master of Arts in Liberal Arts from St. John’s College (2000) and a BFA in Photography from Arizona State University, where he studied under William Jenkins and Bill Jay.

He is the co-author, with Mary Virginia Swanson, of Publish Your Photography Book, originally released by Princeton Architectural Press in 2011. The updated second edition appeared in 2014, and the fully revised third edition was published in 2022. The book provides artists and photographers with practical guidance on every step of the publishing process—from conception to marketing—and includes updated insights and worksheets for navigating today’s social media-driven publishing landscape.