Dr. Christopher aka Charles Christopher Campbell: Las Vegas Art Gallery; Zenity Foundation; United States Medical Foundation; United States Affiliated Art Galleries; USMF Masterpiece; and Paris, Paris
Sample Ad from Las Vegas Weekly.
July 27, 2004
[Last Updated: September 29, 2005]
Consumer Complaint
This is a complaint regarding Dr. Christopher aka Charles Christopher Campbell PhD. He has been placing ads in the Vegas Weekly for approximately 6 years soliciting Models. His ad is as above: He also uses the additional email address art@thelakes.net and phone number (702) 804-0402.
I responded to his ad, filled out the application and was scheduled to work. I did one shoot and never got paid. The contracts he gives are 60-month contracts, valid for 5 years.
He started giving me the run around and sending rude emails. He then denied I ever worked with him, said he couldn't find my paperwork. When I threatened legal action, he suddenly found my original contract, then offered me a "confidential settlement"; then a day later, he turned around and excused me of extortion and said there could be grave repercussions to my career if I persisted.
He has been reported to the authorities after it was discovered he has NO business licence, no Art Gallery (either online or a storefront), he has no Professional Photography experience, and numerous complaints against him with the Better Business Bureau.
Both addresses he lists on his documents are PO BOXES! He is using his Medical Placement business email to solicit Models as well. When confronted about the fact he has no licence, he changed his model contracts to a different business name.
Send your complaints to the DA's office. Three local models have come forward with the same stories over a two-year period in dealing with this man.
His other business aliases are: Las Vegas Art Gallery; Zenity Foundation; United States Medical Foundation; United States Affiliated Art Galleries; USMF Masterpiece; and Paris, Paris.
Anon
Consumer Complaint
I answered an ad in the Las Vegas Weekly for female glamour n*des, saying earn up to $1500 in two shoots and one portrait (see attached actual ad). They sent me all of the info, etc...
I had to give them a LOT of personal information, but I think I saved everything.
I get an email saying I'd been selected as one of their models and they wanted me to join on a particular day for a photo shoot.
I went, watched the guy reshoot another model (this is when he told me that she refused to take her bottoms off the first time), then he interviewed me on video and did the shoot.
I started asking him questions about his camera (how many megapixels?) and he didn't know exactly what I was talking about. He claimed to be from the Las Vegas Art Gallery, which later, I found out does not exist. There are no artists, there are no anything, no gallery, there is no $1500.
His photography skills completely lack. When I'd ask him specific questions, I wouldn't necessarily get straight answers. He talked so fast that I could barely take it all in at once.
I asked:
1. What do you do with these photos? He finally answered: They go to a board of directors (no names EVER given) at the LV Art Gallery and they choose the models they'd like to work with. Then the pics go into a vault and no one ever sees them unless the model is selected. Then an artist can choose to buy the photos and create a painting.
2. What does the model get for it? A: A cd w/ all the pics... So if the model is selected, what does she get? Finally, he said: commission from the painting if it sells. (That's not a good answer, in my opinion).
3. He was using a video camera during the shoot, so I asked him what it was for. A: For a documentary they're doing on the s*x industry, and they want girls who don't work in it as well as ones who have, and this might be on A&E or something one day. Because models move around so much and the photographer can't catch every single move, they can capture shots on film. (Now this is where I really started to question, b/c I know the quality of a PHOTO from a video really sucks...). Later on, he told me that they use it for their own protection in case one of the girls claims they did something wrong (should have said that in the first place).
4. He always signed the emails and referred to himself as "Christopher," so I asked him if that was his first or his last name. He said it was his first name, and I thought he said his last was Sawyer, but I don't recall writing it down. I think he said he's lived here for a while, but I've met so many people here I just don't remember all of the details. I tried to look up his name in public records and see if his wife's name came up or anything... I got nothing... and they haven't been married for long.
5. I've never been given a business card. One of the applications had lasvegasartgallery.com... which goes to "this page cannot be displayed"... but he DOES own the name of the site. I did look that up and the name associated? Doctor Christopher. So for whatever reason, this guy does NOT want anyone to know his real name. That is very sketchy to me.
Registrant:
The Zenity Foundation
8635 W. Sahara #644
Las Vegas, NV 89117
US
Domain Name: LASVEGASARTGALLERY.COM
Administrative Contact:
Christopher, Doctor doctor@THELAKES.NET
Doctor's Allaiance Group
8635 W. Sahara #644
Las Vegas,, NV 89117
US
(702) 360-9067 fax: (702) 360-8990
6. When I'd asked him how many mpixels his camera was, he referred to the memory stick and said, "I think 256 on this one"... I figured someone w/ any knowlege of photography would know!!! I said, "Oh, well that's memory, not mpixels"... Then he said, "Oh, I don't know, but these are pretty good cameras" ... I checked them out... one was a 2.0 and the other a 3.0... and I thought, "How f*cking outdated can you get???"
So I actually had to explain to him about digital quality, size, etc...
When I asked him what print size my photos were, he said just whatever they were, he didn't resize them, probably 5x7..... so I asked him if he cropped them... he said yes, he did a LOT of cropping out the background, etc... which means it totally ruins the pixel quality of the photo and you can't make very large prints (I'll be lucky if I can get 4x6's out of these!).... he had no idea what I was talking about.
That's when I was thinking, "Okay, you need to get out of my house NOW!"
7. Then I look at my picture CD... and I'm thinking this is it???? You have taken much better quality photos than this guy! I've seen better photos from students! Talk about amateur! Holy sh*tta......This guy does NOT know what he's doing... I just hope that my pics don't end up somewhere else.
"Dr. Christopher" (who obtained his "PhD" from a mail order correspondence school that was shut down by the FBI) calls all the models who do confront him "flakes" and denies that he's done anything wrong.
I met two other models that have dealt with him and they've gone through the same b.s. One model wanted to take him to court on a court reality TV show, but he refused to show his face.
Oh, and NO ONE GETS PAID!
Anon
