Chester Higgins attended Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University), where he was mentored by the school's official photographer, P. H. Polk. He worked as a staff photographer for The New York Times from 1974 to 2014. His work is included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, in numerous book collections, and in publications such as Newsweek, Fortune, Look, Essence and Life. Chester Higgins has been called one of the premier African American photographers of his generation. Among his six books are Black Woman, Some Time Ago: A Historical Portrait of Black America (1850–1950), and Feeling the Spirit: Searching the World for the People of Africa.

Chester Higgins just released SACRED NILE, a photographic work of fifty years in the making. This book depicts the story of our collective spiritual imagination and practice. SACRED NILE will change the way you think about our history and the central role of Africans in faith making. Through his photographs, Higgins illustrates how faith migrated up and down the River Nile from Ethiopia to Egypt, leaving vestiges of ancient practice in today’s worship. This visual portrayal of faith reexamines our spiritual beginnings.