He served in World War II, and returned to the Hoosier state to attend Indiana University.
Under his tutelage, Welpott became enthralled with black-and-white photography as a fine art form.
He studied painting under Leon Golub and Harry Engle, and design with George Rickey, receiving his MS in Visual Communication in 1955, followed by an MFA in 1959.
In 1973 he was the recipient of the Medal of Arles, France; later that same year he received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts; and, in 1983, a Polaroid grant in association with the Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego.
[citation needed] He died of kidney failure on November 24, 2007, at the age of 84.