Hello and welcome back to my blog. This is part 2 of my “Summer’s Journey” post. If you haven’t read the first post you can do that by clicking here. This post I will be talking about a photo book I made from my trip. This book is a collection of my photographs from my time in Glacier and Waterton. I really connected with the landscape when I was there and it quickly became one of the most memorable places I have ventured too. I knew I wanted to do something special to show the full beauty of this landscape. The result, a 22-page book following my journey through the park.

“A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed. – Ansel Adams”

I have been interested in bookmaking for a while now and have made several small books and zines. Storytelling for me has always been a driving muse in my work. I believe communicating and telling a story through your work is an essential part of being an artist. I became interested in making photography books in college. I was wanting to do something different than taking a photo and displaying a large print. It doesn’t convey anything about the photograph and you can only display a few photos out of the dozens you want too. I liked the idea of a book because you could display a collection of photographs altogether. A book is also more intimate and personal, both to me and the person viewing it. Having to physically hold it and turn the pages slows the pace down and gives the viewer more time with each spread and photo. This makes it easier to bring them along the journey and communicate your story. You place them into the landscape, as they flip through the pages they are transported to each location, giving them a sense of being with me at that time. That is the magic of photography, capturing a moment in time and preserving it. This is why I am drawn to landscape photography, capturing something beautiful, preserving it in time, and sharing it with the public so they can see and preserve the landscape as well.

“There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer. – Ansel Adams”

This book is 6’’X8” and when opened flat, the length becomes 16”. I printed this book from ZNO.com, it is their lay-flat book and I was very happy with the results and quality. It is a hardcover with a photograph that spans both the front and back cover. The book both starts and ends with one panoramic photo followed by the next page having two photographs and the middle having three or two photos per spread. So the layout goes 1,2,3…3,2,1. I chose this layout because I wanted to control the pace of the viewer; I wanted to instantly immerse them into the book and slowly draw them out.

The Photos follow my trip throughout Glacier and Waterton starting in the area around Logan Pass. The first set of photos is from a hike starting at Logan pass and heading up to Hidden Lake. The second batch is West Glacier around the area of McDonald Creek and trails around it. The third, my personal favorite, is from Many Glacier and a hike to Grinnell Lake. The last set was taken in Waterton, the Canadian section of Glacier, and an international peace hike starting in Waterton and ending in Goat Haunt back in the States. The last Photo and panoramic is on top of Bears Hump an 800ft climb above the town and campsite of Waterton looking out onto the lake towards the border.

Here below are all the photos that appear in the book for you to view. I hope you enjoyed these last two posts and I am glad I could share my trip with you. Please like, share, comment, and subscribe below! Thanks so much for your support. I am a month into this and hoping for many months ahead. I’ll be back soon and for all who enjoy printmaking… stay tuned!

“When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence. – Ansel Adams”