Andrew Chapman (photographer)


Andrew Chapman OAM, is an Australian photojournalist.

Biography

Andrew Chapman was born in Melbourne on 29 June 1954 to parents John L. Chapman, export manager at the Australian Wheat Board, and Elizabeth R. Chapman a writer. He trained at Prahran College of Advanced Education 1974-6, where he was taught by Athol Shmith, John Cato and Paul Cox, whom he remembers;
"These 3 fabulous image makers helped inspire a generation of photographers that went on to make their mark in Australian society and overseas...The Photographic dept, in the bowels of the Arts Building was eternally underfunded, except in one area, "creativity". I for one still remember many of the sayings Cato would weekly give out, like, "evolution breeds in adversity"

In his studies Chapman specialised in documentary, photojournalism & landscape photography. From 1978 he first worked for The Melbourne Times, then for Syme Community Newspapers and has since been a freelancer contributing toTime, on the cover of which his work featured more than a dozen times, BRW and The Bulletin, as well as Australian newspapers.
Rural Australia, its human and animal inhabitants, European and indigenous, the harshness and beauty of the Australian bush landscape, its vernacular architecture, and lively Australian Federal politics are Chapman's main photographic subjects. All entail frequent long-distance travel across the island continent, and the work of Jeff Carter is an inspiration to him in that regard; his advice to other photographers is to "explore Australia’s ‘inner circle’, away from the cities and coast."
Since 2006, Chapman has published nine books and has made photographic contributions to others’. He has exhibited in Australia, France and the USA.
In 2011 Chapman had a liver transplant, during which he was almost blinded due to a viral infection, prompting him to hold a 2012 exhibition Nearly A Retrospective, a survey of four decades of his work. Chris Franklin recorded Andrew's recollection of events around the transplant and reflections on his lifelong calling in photography in Yellow'' which won the international Lift-Off Global Network Best Short Documentary in 2019.

MAP Group

In 1998, with a group of other professional photographers seeking to rekindle the tradition of documentary photography, Chapman founded MAP – Many Australian Photographers, its title later simplified to MAP Group, with Chapman the inaugural president. He initiated a project of the group resulting in a widely viewed exhibition that toured the country for 5 years, and publication; ‘Beyond Reasonable Drought’, recording global warming-induced drought across Australia.
Chapman's mentorship of other photographers extends also beyond the MAP Group.

Awards

Finalist in:
In 2014, Chapman was awarded an OAM in the Australia Day Honours for his service to the arts as a photographer.

Exhibitions

Solo