Chanell Stone

Chanell Stone is an American photographer. She is Black and known for her "Natura Negra" series. and continues to use film in her practice, primarily shooting with a Pentax. She attributes her interest in representation and self-portraiture to growing up with social media, namely Myspace.

Her series "Natura Negra" explores the connection of black people and nature, specifically the nature that can be found in dense cities or what she refers to as "urban nature". Stone says, "As Black people, it feels like these rural spaces aren't for us. I want to turn that idea on its head." Stone also aims to dispel the problematic idea that Black people’s only connection to nature is through slavery.

For Black History Month in February 2021, Apple, Inc. commissioned 30 photographers to contribute to the Shot on iPhone campaign, "Hometown". 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:

2026: SECA Art Award, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) 2020 Artist in Residence, Real Time and Space 2019–2020 Emerging Artist Award, Museum of the African Diaspora San Francisco 2018–2019 Purchase Prize Award, Center for Photography at Woodstock 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) Aperture Foundation, New York, NY, "Aperture Summer Open: Delirious Cities” (2019) SF Camerawork, San Francisco, CA, "Forecast" (2019) 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) Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco, CA, "Natura Negra" (2020)