Harold Chapman arrives at his 80^th year with his reputation as a photographer of the first rank stronger than ever. DEAL TODAY pays homage to the enigmatic Mr Chapman, an extraordinary man who found world wide fame peering through a glass (lens) darkly. 

Chapman began his photographic career freelancing for the Kent Messenger before moving to London. By day he took photos of weddings and by night he washed dishes and waited tables in a Soho jazz club just to be near the sights and sounds he loved. Hanging around taking pictures of musicians in their subterranean twilight world stirred thoughts and longings for more distant adventures. “In these dumps and dives I used to hear wonderful stories of Paris and discovered the secret banned books of Henry Miller such as Tropic of Cancer. I thought, that’s the place to go, so I hitchhiked to Paris.” And so it was that in 1956 Chapman found himself in the most romantic city in the world, at that time a Mecca for artists, writers, poets and musicians.

Thus began an eventful life capturing evocative black & white images of Parisian street life and chronicling the comings and goings of a group of bohemian writers and artists living at what became known as The Beat Hotel. These iconic images became synonymous with an age christened ‘The Beat Generation’. Chapman’s pictures began to appear in numerous magazines and photographic books and his global reputation as a photographer in the best documentary tradition was established. After Paris, Chapman moved to the Herault Valley in the Languedoc region of S.W. France where his lustrous landscapes of rural life added another dimension to his artistic output.

After 30 years living and working in France, Chapman decided together with his wife Claire to return to Deal, the town of his birth. Almost any day of the week, fine or foul, you might just catch a glimpse of a tall rangy figure of a man wrapped against the elements, striding meaningfully along the shore with a camera, (digital of course – for Chapman has embraced technology with all the enthusiasm of a convert), slung about his chest. On the days he isn’t seeking out the quirky or the slightly surreal, Chapman is hunched over his computer creating vivid slide presentations that conjure up another era. His use of 50’s jazz tracks over images from Fish Markets in Dieppe to Bohemian life in Paris or even his most recent images of Deal are quite simply unique and leave a lasting impression. DEAL TODAY salutes a true artist.

You will be able to see some of Harold Chapman’s work at a special exhibition created in his honour at The Royal Hotel as part of this year’s Deal Festival.

(See the Festival website at: www.dealfestival.co.uk)

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