Biography

Chip Hooper is best known for his ongoing series of ocean photographs.
These seascapes are his most accomplished works to date, capturing
transient moments when light, water, and sky coalesce in transcendent
beauty. The first two bodies of work in the series, California’s
Pacific and New Zealand’s South Pacific & Tasman Sea have both been
exhibited and published. Hooper continues to seek out new oceans to
photograph, and in recent years has worked extensively in Iceland.

Chip Hooper was born in 1962 in Miami, Florida and was raised in the
suburbs of Chicago. In his seventh grade art class, he stepped into a
darkroom for the first time and immediately felt a strong affinity for
the process of making images. Soon after, he discovered a reproduction
of the iconic Ansel Adams photograph ‘Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico,
1941’. He was deeply moved by the sight of a wider and more beautiful
world than he had yet experienced, and was transfixed by the ability
of a single image to convey powerful emotions to the viewer. He began
photographing extensively and built himself a small darkroom in the
basement of his family’s home. He particularly enjoyed photographing
the watery expanse of Lake Michigan, experiencing a sense of
connection to his subject that he would rediscover years later. He
spent countless hours printing and assembling a portfolio of images
which he still keeps as a reminder of his early inspiration.

In 1988, at the age of 26, Hooper moved to California’s Monterey
Peninsula, settling in Carmel Valley. He found himself drawn strongly
to the ever-changing display of light on the waters of the Pacific
Ocean along the Big Sur coast. Hooper experienced once more the
profound sense of peace and connection – with himself and the world
around him – that he had glimpsed many years earlier.

Invigorated by his new choice of subject matter, Hooper also made
great strides in his technical skills as an artist. He began to work
exclusively with a large-format 8×10 inch view camera, and also
designed and built a studio on his property. He challenged himself to
achieve greater technical quality in his prints than those produced by
the master photographers of the twentieth century that preceded him.

Hooper began to envision his photographs of California’s Pacific as
the first chapter in a larger project. He has since made it his goal
to photograph every major sea and ocean in the world. Although
thousands of miles separate these bodies of water, Chip Hooper’s
photographs remind us that they all flow into one another – that they,
like us, are connected by the flow of time. In his images, the ever-
changing waters of the ocean reflect the deeper emotional states of
the human experience.

Hooper’s own words succinctly capture what photography means to him:
“the process of creating photographs is a contemplative one. It is an
exploration of my feelings as much as it is an exploration of what I
am seeing. The best images always happen when what I am feeling
becomes one with what I am seeing.”

Devin Grosz
April, 2008

Since 2008, Chip Hooper has continued his in depth study of the oceans with Surf, California’s Pacific 2nd Set, and From the Edge. Surf is an up close, abstract look at the ephemeral and ever-changing nature of the ocean. California’s Pacific 2nd Set is Hooper’s return to the ocean that he loved and knew so intimately. From the Edge is Hooper’s final body of work. In this series, he turns even more toward abstraction and explores his connection to the ocean in color.

After his travels to New Zealand and Iceland, Hooper refocused his work on the Northern California coast. He explored new sections of the coast and returned to old with a fresh outlook. In 2011, Hooper received a life altering diagnosis, dramatically changing his perspective on everything. He was told he had neuroendocrine cancer. Hooper’s artwork became an escape and an outlet for emotional expression. He was also able to reflect on his life and the challenges he was facing. Hooper referred to California’s Pacific 2nd Set and From the Edge as his most meaningful bodies of work. The process of making his art allowed him to fully immerse himself in his grief, pain, loneliness, and many other emotions, but then come to find peace, happiness, and gratitude. This process was deeply personal. Although Hooper was generally an extremely extroverted person, he turned inward and enjoyed solitude while photographing. Few were invited into this intimate process. An exception to this was Hooper’s daughter, he relished their time photographing together and loved to call her, “his favorite assistant.” Traveling up and down the California coast to photograph, Hooper found a renewed sense of commitment to his artwork. Sea Ranch, California became one of his most beloved destinations; oftentimes spending several weeks there at a time.

When living with this kind of a diagnosis, time takes on a new significance. He realized that, like the ocean, life is ephemeral and it can be taken from you at any moment. Through his reflections on cancer, family, friends, and his own life, Hooper became determined to live every moment he had to the fullest with gratitude and love. The ocean was also a limitless source of strength for him. While photographing at Irish Beach, CA on March 29, 2014, Hooper found the words to describe his deep connection with the ocean, “The ocean is the purest expression of creation. In every moment it is ephemeral, constantly recreating itself. If we look deep enough into it, it has so many answers. For me, it breathes life into me, literally.” He felt as though those words finally came to him in an instant after trying to define that relationship for many years. This evolution of his thoughts and outlook is apparent through his final series because, though he was always committed to his art, after his diagnosis it became an even more essential and central part of him.

Hooper passed away on March 5, 2016 at his home in Carmel, CA. Though he was not granted enough time to visit all of the world’s oceans, he was able to perfectly capture the ocean and his relationship with it. Although the world suffered a great loss with Hooper’s passing, his spirit will live on through his artwork. Per Hooper’s wishes, his daughter, Valerie, is now managing his photography and honoring his legacy through his stunning works of art.