Chanell Stone Explained

Chanell Stone
Birth Place:	Los Angeles, California, United States
Field:	Photography
Alma Mater:	California College of the Arts, Los Angeles Trade-Technical College
Awards:	2020 Artist in Residence, Real Time and Space2019–2020 Emerging Artist Award, Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco2018–2019 Purchase Prize Award, Center for Photography at Woodstock

Chanell Stone is an American photographer. She is Black and known for her "Natura Negra" series. Stone lives and works in Oakland, California.

Early life and education

She received an associate degree in English from Los Angeles Trade-Technical College in 2017. Stone received a BFA degree in photography from California College of the Arts in 2019.

Work

Chanell Stone's work predominantly features black and white self-portraits. She first took an analog photography class in high school^[1] and continues to use film in her practice, primarily shooting with a Pentax.

Stone was a featured photographer in W Magazine's "These Are the 8 Young Photographers to Follow in 2020". She was also a shortlisted finalist for the 2020 San Francisco Artadia Award.^[2] She attributes her interest in representation and self-portraiture to growing up with social media, namely Myspace. Portrait photography continues to be her primary focus.^[3]

Her series "Natura Negra" explores the connection of black bodies and nature,^[4] specifically the nature that can be found in dense cities^[5] or what she refers to as "urban nature". This series sets out to reclaim and reconnect black bodies to nature, even if it is in an urban setting.^[6] Stone says, "As Black people, it feels like these rural spaces aren't for us. I want to turn that idea on its head."^[7] Stone also aims to dispel the problematic idea that Black people’s only connection to nature is through slavery. "Natura Negra" won her an emerging artist award from the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco.

Stone has also worked as an editorial photographer for the California Sunday Magazine, documenting a family affected by the Camp Fire in Paradise, California in 2018.^[8]

For Black History Month in February 2021, Apple, Inc. commissioned 30 photographers to contribute to the Shot on iPhone campaign, "Hometown".^[9] Stone contributed pictures of Oakland, California that were featured on Apple's Instagram account as well as billboards around the San Francisco Bay Area.

Awards and fellowships

Among the honors which Stone has earned are:

• 2020 Artist in Residence, Real Time and Space^[10]
• 2019–2020 Emerging Artist Award, Museum of the African Diaspora San Francisco^[11]
• 2018–2019  Purchase Prize Award, Center for Photography at Woodstock^[12]
• 2018–2019  Kate V. and Harry W. Davies Memorial Scholarship, California College of the Arts
• 2017–2019  Diversity Scholarship, California College of the Arts
• 2017–2019  Faculty Honors Scholarship, California College of the Arts

Exhibitions

• Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, California, "Poetics of Conflict" (2018)
• Center for Photography at Woodstock, Woodstock, NY, "Photography Now" (2018)
• Ortega y Gasset Projects, Brooklyn, NY, "Vice Versa" (2018)^[13]
• Aperture Foundation, New York, NY, "Aperture Summer Open: Delirious Cities” (2019)^[14]
• SF Camerawork, San Francisco, CA, "Forecast" (2019)^[15]
• Hit Gallery, San Francisco, CA, "Brass Tacks" (2019)
• Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA "Experiments in the Field: Creative Collaboration in the Age of Ecological Concern” (2020)^[16]
• Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco, CA, "Natura Negra" (2020)
• Apple, Inc., Shot on iPhone, "Hometown" (2021)

Collections

Stone's work is held in the following permanent collections:

• Center for Photography at Woodstock, Woodstock, New York
• Meyer Library: Artist Book Collection, Oakland, California^[17]

External links

• Housing Projects And Empty Lots. How Chanell Stone Is Reframing Nature Photography Photo story on NPR

Notes and References

1. Web site: These Are the 8 Young Photographers to Follow in 2020. W Magazine Women's Fashion & Celebrity News. April 3, 2020.
2. Web site: In the Artist’s Studio Chanell Stone. 2021-03-11. MoAD Museum of African Diaspora.
3. Web site: Policarpio. PJ Gubatina. Episode 9: Chanell Stone with PJ Gubatina Policarpio. 2021-03-15. Art Practical. en.
4. Web site: LensCulture. Chanell Stone . Chanell Stone. 2021-03-11. LensCulture.
5. Web site: The Faces and Conversations of MoAD's Winter Opening Reception. KQED. April 3, 2020.
6. Web site: 2019. MoAD Emerging Artists presents Chanell Stone. live. August 16, 2021. MoAD Museum of African Diaspora. https://web.archive.org/web/20200920040946/https://www.moadsf.org/exhibition/moad-emerging-artists-presents-chanell-stone/ . September 20, 2020 .
7. Web site: Matsuda. Will. February 27, 2021. Housing Projects And Empty Lots. How Chanell Stone Is Reframing Nature Photography. live. 2021-08-16. NPR.org. en. https://web.archive.org/web/20210227134137/https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2021/02/27/970992758/housing-projects-and-empty-lots-how-chanell-stone-is-reframing-nature-photograph . February 27, 2021 .
8. Web site: High School Students Escape the Paradise Fire. October 3, 2019. The California Sunday Magazine. April 3, 2020.
9. Web site: Apple celebrates Black History Month. 2021-03-10. Apple Newsroom. en-US.
10. Web site: REAL TIME & SPACE RESIDENCY. April 3, 2020.
11. Web site: Emerging Artists Program. MoAD Museum of African Diaspora. April 3, 2020.
12. Web site: CPW – Photography Now 2018. cpw.org. April 3, 2020.
13. Web site: Vice Versa. Ortega y Gasset Projects. April 7, 2020.
14. Web site: 2019 Summer Open: Delirious Cities, July 25 – August 29, 2019. Aperture Foundation NY. April 7, 2020.
15. Web site: Forecast 2019. SF Camerawork. April 7, 2020.
16. Web site: MutualArt.com – The Web's Largest Art Information Service.. mutualart.com. April 3, 2020.
17. Book: American night: bootleg edition of Paul Graham's American night. Oakland, CA. Library Catalog (Koha).