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.

Carlan’s project, Question of Power, opens at the New Mexico Museum of History in Santa Fe in 2025. Two decades of work, including black and white photographs, audio interviews, and short films will be showcased as part of an exhibit on climate change.

When he is not teaching, Carlan can be found riding his iron pony on two-lane highways across the American Southwest telling the stories of people, places, and the landscape.