Dartmoor photographer receives Special Recognition Award

Tuesday, 30th May, saw a presentation by the retiring Mayor of West Devon Borough Council, Councillor Caroline Mott, of a Special Recognition Award to Dartmoor Photographer Chris Chapman.
The presentation of the Mayor’s Recognition Award for 2022/23 at the full council meeting was ‘in recognition of services to the Borough’, honouring Chris’s 50 years of photographing Dartmoor life and farming, and in particular the Providence Chapel’s heritage project at Throwleigh, which was supported by a National Lottery grant from the Heritage Fund. 
Chris’s nomination for the 2023 award was put forward by Ian Crawford, a trustee of the Providence Chapel, in recognition for all the work he has done over the years and in particular the recent summer exhibitions of Chris’s photography at the Providence Chapel.
The heritage project was supported by the Methodist Church and Devon County Council with the idea being that the free exhibition would generate donations to help safeguard the future of the chapel. As like many of Dartmoor’s older historic buildings, the maintenance and repairs are costly. In addition to the photographic exhibition the chapel hosted a series of talks over the summer in 2022 plus ran a project to discover more about the families who have been connected with the chapel going back over eight generations to its founding in 1839.
Chris Chapman was born in Wigan, Lancashire in 1952 and began his photographic career at the Newport College of Art in South Wales where he was invited to join the Documentary Photography Course run by the Magnum photographer, David Hurn. In 1975 he moved to Dartmoor and since then he has documented many aspects of Dartmoor life. His photographs reflect traditional skills inherent in the indigenous population and emphasise the accumulation of knowledge associated with age and customs, and he has built up a large archive depicting the culture and character of the region.
In his introduction of Chris to the Council, retiring Councillor Terry Pearce, Deputy Mayor of West Devon Borough Council, who has known Chris for many years, stressed the importance of the award, and in particular how Chris’s photography over the last 50 years ‘has been amazing and also extremely important in documenting the lives and practices of farmers and farming on Dartmoor that are no longer with us due to advances in agriculture’. Councillor Pearce went on to say that Chris’s work was so internationally important that it was right that he was also recognised by West Devon for his work.
In acknowledging the receipt of the reward, Chris recounted his first visit to Dartmoor back in 1972 whilst a pupil at Teignmouth Grammar School. He and a few friends visited Plymouth ‘as one of a bunch of hoodlums on Lambretta scooters’ and having decided to go home via Dartmoor, he ‘instantly fell in love with the place’. Chris returned in 1975 intending to only stay for one year and has ended up staying ever since.
Chris went on to thank all those who have helped put the current exhibition together at the Providence Chapel, in particular Ian Crawford whose idea it was, Simon Timms the former Head of Culture at Devon County Council who acted as advisor to Providence Chapel’s heritage project which was supported by a National Lottery grant from the Heritage Fund, and Margaret Allin, Chief Steward at the chapel who heads the support team ‘that makes the best cream teas in Devon’.
Chris’s photography has been widely recognised and is represented in both public and private collections, including those of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the Arts Council of England and the International Centre of Photography in New York. His work has been published under various titles, including The Right Side of the Hedge (David & Charles), Dartmoor: The Threatened Wilderness (Channel 4) and Wild Goose and Riddon.
The following weblinks can provide more information about Chris Chapman’s photography, and to West Devon Borough Council:
Chris Chapman -
http://www.chrischapmanphotography.co.uk/
http://www.thedartmoorphotographs.co.uk
West Devon Borough Council –
https://www.westdevon.gov.uk/