Walter Chappell

[jtk]

http://www.walterchappell.com/photography.htm

Met him around 1975,a feast.at Conrad Forbes place. He'd just returned from a year in a tent on Mount Tamalpais (Northern CA)....everybody there had studied with Minor White or were partnered with people who had (I was Conrad's student) ... several had been, or would be, published in Aperture.

Walter brought a stunning redhead...that's the main thing I remember about him, that plus he had walked down to Sausalito frome his tent most days to beg for food, Buddhist-monk-style. Everybody understood that he was an amazing character.

 

[BradS]

I don’t think you could do that (camp on Mt. Tam for a year) today.

 

[jtk]

There are a few "authorized" camp sites today, but I don't think anybody cared about authorization back then.

 

[James Bleifus]

He lived for a time in Sebastopol, CA, which is where I grew up. A friend of mine knew him, and he and his family moved into her art studio when his place burned down. That might have been when the negatives for his first book we're destroyed.

He seems to me like a photographer who was always on the edge of being recognized (besides Minor White he hung out with Nathan Lyons and other well-known photographers), but he never really went main stream. My friend said that he had terrible luck.

 

[jtk]

There's a Chappell tale in here
darryl curran & photo education

 

[Larry Bullis]

I haven't been around much lately, but I happened upon this thread doing a duck duck search for an old friend, Conrad Forbes. I didn't know Walter well, but was around him a few times.

Anybody still around?

 

[Larry Bullis]

http://www.walterchappell.com/photography.htm

Met him around 1975,a feast.at Conrad Forbes place. He'd just returned from a year in a tent on Mount Tamalpais (Northern CA)....everybody there had studied with Minor White or were partnered with people who had (I was Conrad's student) ... several had been, or would be, published in Aperture.

Walter brought a stunning redhead...that's the main thing I remember about him, that plus he had walked down to Sausalito frome his tent most days to beg for food, Buddhist-monk-style. Everybody understood that he was an amazing character.

So you were at Conrad's in Graton, when he was well into his Parkinson's. Had he finished at SF Art Institute by then? Where was he teaching? Workshop? Or did he have a job? I visited them also in 1975 and saw a huge portfolio of Walter's work. I have to say it was a rather strange experience. But then, so were my other very brief encounters.

I used to go camping with Conrad and Bob Brown a lot in the mid 1960's.

 

[jtk]

So you were at Conrad's in Graton, when he was well into his Parkinson's. Had he finished at SF Art Institute by then? Where was he teaching? Workshop? Or did he have a job? I visited them also in 1975 and saw a huge portfolio of Walter's work. I have to say it was a rather strange experience. But then, so were my other very brief encounters.

I used to go camping with Conrad and Bob Brown a lot in the mid 1960's.

!!! Let's talk.

 

[jtk]

So you were at Conrad's in Graton, when he was well into his Parkinson's. Had he finished at SF Art Institute by then? Where was he teaching? Workshop? Or did he have a job? I visited them also in 1975 and saw a huge portfolio of Walter's work. I have to say it was a rather strange experience. But then, so were my other very brief encounters.

I used to go camping with Conrad and Bob Brown a lot in the mid 1960's.

Yes, Graton. He was in terrible shape from Parkinson's and meds ...did Scream From Within, a heartbreaking project, then passed. A close friend...met him at a Mendocino Art Center. workshop..a formal Minor class ...has had a lot to do with my life ever since.

Please PM me.

 

[Larry Bullis]

Please PM me.

I’ve tried. Aren’t you getting it? I’ve been off this board for quite awhile, so maybe I’m doing it wrong. I’ve also tried calling. I’ll keep on with it. On the phone, watch for area code 360.

 

[jtk]

I’ve tried. Aren’t you getting it? I’ve been off this board for quite awhile, so maybe I’m doing it wrong. I’ve also tried calling. I’ll keep on with it. On the phone, watch for area code 360.

Try again. I'd like to remember those connections. Conrad Forbes and Bob Brown were change agents for me and a bunch of others.