Above and Below (1988)
Silver Gelatin Monoprint
Walter Chappell (1925–2000)
El Rito
Capitol Art Selection Committee Purchase
Capitol Art Collection, Capitol Art Foundation
Born in 1925 in Portland, Oregon, Walter Chappell studied architectural drawing at the Benson Polytechnic School and piano and musical composition at the Ellson-White Conservatory of Music. Although his creative interests would later turn to photography, at that time his main pursuits were music, painting, and writing. A book of his poetry, Logue and Glyph, was published in 1948.
In 1957, Chappell settled in Rochester, New York, to study printmaking techniques with Minor White. While there, he wrote and edited for Aperture magazine and assisted White in early intensive workshops. Gestures of Infinity, a collection of images and poetry, was produced in 1957. Under the Sun, images by Walter Chappell, Nathan Lyons, and Syl Labrot, was published in 1961.
After living in Big Sur, his growing interest in the imagery of the human form in nature and in experimental filmmaking was the impetus for a move to Taos. There he photographed the female figure and the landscape and studied Indian ceremonial life. After a move to San Francisco in 1970, he began experimental work with electrophotography: high voltage/high frequency electron imagery of living plants. This work was presented in his Metaflora Portfolio, 1980.
Chappell returned to New Mexico in 1980 and received his second National Endowment for the Arts Photographers’ Fellowship. His Solar Incarnate Portfolio was introduced in 1981. He was granted his third Photographers’ Fellowship in 1984. In 1987, Chappell moved to El Rito and from there continued to exhibit, lecture, give workshops, and make field trips. Chappell is currently working on a retrospective monograph on his work in photography, entitled Collected Light.
About the Artist: Walter Chappell
Walter Chappell was a pioneering photographer whose visionary practice spanned traditional silver gelatin printing, experimental imaging, and poetic expression. His work often focused on the mystical connection between the human body and natural forms, drawing from both scientific and spiritual investigations. Whether capturing the raw energy of a plant through high-voltage photography or the poetic stillness of a nude figure in landscape, Chappell sought to reveal what he called the “invisible presence.”
Closely associated with photographers like Minor White, Chappell helped shape the conceptual and technical edges of 20th-century American photography. His late career, deeply rooted in northern New Mexico, reflects an enduring commitment to art as both inquiry and reverence.
