Carlan Tapp is a documentary filmmaker and photographer. In the late 1970s, he assisted Ansel Adams for three years at his Yosemite Workshops, and shortly thereafter, he enrolled in Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. A descendant of the Wicocomico Tribe (Taptico family), Carlan, together with his wife, founded Naamehnay Project-Question of Power, a federal nonprofit focused on creating a visual voice for Native American homelands and sacred sites impacted by energy industrialization in America. Carlan’s work has been featured in Harley-Davidson HOG Magazine, New Mexico Magazine, Bloomberg, MSNBC, Associated Press, and NPR’s “Living on Earth.” His photo essays are syndicated by Redux Pictures in New York.

Between 2004 and 2011, Carlan documented opposition to the proposed Desert Rock power plant on the Navajo (Diné) Nation near Farmington, New Mexico.  The power plant construction was officially cancelled in 2011 due to widespread public opposition, falling electricity demands, and uncertainties surrounding climate change legislation. The body of work was used by Navajo Women in legal litigation to halt the building of the Desert Rock Power Plant.  The Question of Power photographs, video stories, and audio interviews with Diné people are presented in an exhibition at the Palace of the Governors, New Mexico History Museum, Santa Fe, NM, opening  April 19, 2026 through June 27, 2027.