Juan Cristóbal Newberry Retana (known as Christopher Cristóbal Newberry) was born in Mexico City on 15.11.51 – a palindrome. Speculatively, this may be one reason he has been fascinated by symmetry, repetitiveness, cycles, change, progression.  

He attended 11 different schools in Mexico and the USA before enrolling at the Universidad Ibero Americana where he read Communication Science.

In early 1976 he came to Europe on a one-way air ticket. He worked and hitchhiked for several months.  Down to only £5 in his pocket, he hitched a ride from Paris to London. He has lived in Britain ever since.

He has directed documentaries and educational television programmes for Mexican and British television, including BBC Education. He is listed in IMDb (Internet Movie Database). He has worked as a professional photographer since 1985, specialising in charitable sector communications. His pictures have appeared in The Guardian and other national and local newspapers. As the author of two books on architecture and local history, he became aware of the possibilities of transforming the images of buildings to appear as they might have the architects' original plans. At about the same time, he moved to ‘landscape with a message’ for his exhibition ‘Vistas in a Crowded Land’.

Since 2005 and the advent of digital photography, he has shifted his artistic interests from the factual to the verisimilar. He has come to regard himself, not as a photographer, but as an image creator – transforming them into new, verisimilar images. He is in particular, interested in the ‘post-truth’ world, where many messages are not meant to inform, but rather to confuse and obfuscate: He invites the viewer to become aware that his images are impossible – however much they resemble reality (see his book, "True Colours").

His work has been exhibited in Mexico City, London and Winchester. Most recently he has exhibited at  Dean Clough Galleries in Halifax (which closed down for two years due to Covid); the Creative Innovation Centre in Taunton, Hampshire Open Studios, Creates Gallery and at the National Art Museum in Constanta, Romania (2019); The Other Art Fair, Kings Cross, London (2021); The Light Room, Alresford, (June 2022): Oxmarket Contemporary Art, Chichester, (April 2024).