| AdminHistory | Noel Chanan (1939- ) initially studied photography at college, but subsequently (following four years at the BBC 1962-1966) pursued a thirty-five year career as a freelance documentary film-maker, both as a director and an editor. Included in his output as a director have been a number of films about photography, including an award-winning portrait of South African photographer David Goldblatt; biopics of English photographers George Rodger and Bert Hardy; a series on the history of nineteenth century photography and another on pioneers of cinema. Retiring from active film-making in 1998, Chanan has now returned to photography full-time, with three solo exhibitions between 1998 and 2003, writings on the history of photography, exhibition curating and teaching. His photograph of Ted Hughes at Lurley Manor won the Lord Scott of Portswood Award at the South West Academy of Fine and Applied Arts 2002 Open Competition, and three of his photographic portraits are held in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery in London.
Chanan met Leonard Baskin, who lived nearby at Lurley, Tiverton, Devon, in early 1976. They formed what was to prove a deep and lasting friendship. Not long after their first meeting, Chanan began what evolved into a long-term work of dedication - photographing Baskin's work in progress, together with portraits of Baskin himself, and often the visitors to the studio, including poet Ted Hughes. |