Nature Photographers

 Ansel Adams

Full Name: Ansel Easton Adams

Born:

 February 20, 1902,

San Francisco, California, United States

Died: 

April 22, 1984

Monterrey, California, United States

The grandfather of landscape photography. He is the one nature photographer that transcends the genre and even photography for that matter. His images are so well-known that photographers and tourists-alike are still trying to fill his tripod holes 60 – 70 years after his most famous images were made. Perhaps his greatest legacy were his environmental conservation efforts with the Sierra Club that led to creation of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks among other areas, and also the art education institutions that he helped to create.

Galen Rowell

Born:

August 23, 1940

Oakland, California, United States

Died:

August 11, 2002

A well-rounded photojournalist with a special ability to connect with a vast audience through his writings, Rowell influenced countless photographers in multiple genres beginning with rock climbing, wilderness adventure and then eventually landscape photography in the 2nd half of his career. The list of current working photographers that have followed in his footsteps reads like a who’s who in outdoor adventure and landscape photography and number too many to list. He was one of the first to utilize 35mm cameras exclusively in outdoor photography and popularized the use of graduated neutral-density filters.

William Henrey Jackson

Born:

April 4, 1843

Keesseville, New York, United States

Died:

June 30, 1942

New York City, New York, United States

One of the early pioneers of landscape photography, Jackson’s photos were instrumental in the creation of the National Parks system beginning with Yellowstone National Park in 1872. Not to go unmentioned should be the fact that this was essentially the first of a long-tradition of using nature photography as a catalyst for environmental conservation efforts. 

 Eliot Porter

Born:

December 6, 1901

Winnetka, Illinois, United States

Died: 

November 2, 1990

Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States

In contrast with Ansel Adams’ big landscape style, Porter’s photos were more “quiet” and focused on the intimate landscape scenes that are easily overlooked. It is easy to overlook his body of work in favor of postcard views but one needs to only look at the photographers that he influenced to see that his work has left a lasting impact. Photographers including William Neill and Charlie Cramer have styles that bear a strong resemblance to Porter’s vision. His most famous body of work is arguably the book, In Wildness Is the Preservation of the World.

 

 

David Muench

Born:

June 25, 1936

Santa Barbara, California, United States

Like Ansel Adams did with black and white landscape photography a generation prior, Muench is synonymous with color landscape photography. The now-cliche’d use of prominent foreground elements leading the eye through the frame to the background in the distance was a style that Muench became known for back in the 50′s and 60′s. You would walk into any library or bookstore in America in the past 40 years and be hard-pressed to not see his books or calendars even if you don’t know his name.