Yellowstone National Park: Through the Lens of Time

December 4 (Tuesday), 6 p.m., Teton Co. Library Auditorium – Open to Public. Presentation: “Yellowstone National Park: Through the Lens of Time”, Presented by Brad Boner, Jackson Hole News & Guide

Pioneer photographer William Henry Jackson’s photographs from the 1871 Hayden Survey were instrumental in persuading Congress to designate Yellowstone as a national park—America’s first and greatest experiment in the preservation of an extraordinary landscape. Brad Boner’s book, “Yellowstone National Park: Through the Lens of Time”, was an effort to present Jackson’s images paired with his own breathtaking color re-photographs of each view. These contemporary comparisons to Jackson’s originals reveal just how well that experiment, the creation of Yellowstone National Park, has stood the test of time. This program will be an opportunity to “travel” with Brad through his 3 year effort to retake Jackson’s images.

Yellowstone is always changing. The Grand Canyon is getting deeper and wider as the Yellowstone River carves a chasm into the earth. The flows of the great hot springs at Mammoth are creating new layers of delicate, colorful cascades and leaving the old terraces to crumble in decay. Roads, bridges, and pathways wind through the park, and there are restaurants, campgrounds, and hotels. Yet even with the impact of humanity, Yellowstone remains remarkably intact, evidence that the effort to preserve and sustain the park for future generations has been a success.

Brad will show multiple sets of “then and now” photographs—using images of Jackson taken during the 1871 Hayden Survey, coupled with the results of Brad’s three years of work re-photographing them. He will discuss the challenges in finding locations & in recreating Jackson’s images. There will be also be some discussion of the remarkable geology of Yellowstone as evidenced in his own and in Jackson’s now not quite 150 year old photos.  Video