William Henry Jackson books

[QT Luong]

Which book(s) do your recommend - in or out of print - for looking at the photographs of William Henry Jackson and why ?

[Drew Wiley]

Is there one? If not, there certainly ought to be!

[Merg Ross]

A book that I used to own (and has disappeared from my shelves) was "Picture Maker of the Old West". It was a large book, put together by his son shortly after Jackson's death. The reproductions were typical late 1940's quality, but the work certainly impressive. Perhaps check at the local library for a copy.

[mmerig]

Which book(s) do your recommend - in or out of print - for looking at the photographs of William Henry Jackson and why ?

Although I plan on reading "William Henry Jackson's "The pioneer photographer" , his autobiography, I have re-photographed several of his early photos in the west as part of my research work (I am a plant ecologist that sometimes has to have an historical reference).

It is fun and fascinating to re-trace Jackson's travels, and with his image in hand, stand in the same place and suddenly see what the changes have been in over a century; as you may expect, they are often considerable. Many of the places he went, with the equipment he had, is truly remarkable.

The re-photography is hardly artistic or creative, but matching the time of year (to the week if possible) and the time of day is essential for a good comparison, and takes some planning. Then of course there are the emulsions.

[Drew Wiley]

I've seen a couple of so-so books, inclucing the work Merg referenced, as well as any number of individual shots reproduced, but nothing that gives the impact his compositions
deserve. As much as I've cynically derided the abuse of Moderism in certain contemporary
contexts, I do treasure how much that gave rise to it actually ocurred in photography first.
Cezanne figured that out. But Jackson was one of the masters of creating skyline cutouts
providing bold graphic tension with surrounding rock masses etc. Blame blue-sensitive emulsions if you want, but certainly knew more than most how to make that work, and I
wish there were a folio doing this prescient modernist justice. Ditto for Carleton Watkins.

[Nathan Potter]

A very interesting book called "Colorado 1870 - 2000", by John Fielder was published around 2000 by Westcliffe Publishers in association with the Colorado Historical Society. Fielder revisited the sites where Jackson photographed and attempted to duplicate the image using the equivalent focal length lenses to obtain the right perspectives. Interesting to see how much has changed in some instances and how little in other images. The reproductions in the book are of average quality, however the presentation is quite good; Jacksons' images shown right beside Fielders modern attempts on the same page.

Jackson used a variety of formats up to 18 X 22 down to 5 X8 and even a 3 X 4 in stereo. Fielder used principally a 4 X 5. and shot all scenes in both color and B & W.

This is a massive book of about 225 pages with page size 12 X 16 inches. My copy I picked up at the Colorado Historical Society in Colorado Springs probably about 2003 - it was the last copy for sale at that location.

The book is almost entirely of photos with but a scant 10 pages or so of text at the beginning discussing Jacksons images and movements around Colorado and Fielders' attempts to duplicate his work.

This book is readily available on Amazon at various prices.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

[lenser]

QT,

A quick glance at Amazon shows these three available

"William Henry Jackson and the Transformation of the American Landscape"

"William Henry Jackson's The Pioneer Photographer"

"Time Exposure the Autobiography of William Henry Jackson"

[Jim Jones]

A book outside the familiar tradition of William Henry Jackson is The Birth of a Century by Jim Hughes. This covers the Photochrome (color lithograph) prints made from Jackson's negatives by the Detroit Photographic Company, later known as the Detroit Publishing Company. Jackson was a partner in the company.

[QT Luong]

> The re-photography is hardly artistic or creative

I bet Mark Klett, who has made a large part of his fine-art career on "re-photography", has a different view.

> A quick glance at Amazon shows these three available

Are they any good ?

[Drew Wiley]

Re-photog might indeed be interesting for the historical perspective and per how things look today, but hardly fills the void for a serious visual presentation of Jackson himself.

[mmerig]

Which book(s) do your recommend - in or out of print - for looking at the photographs of William Henry Jackson and why ?

For simply looking at his pictures, there are 1551 photos at the US Geological Survey's Photo Library in Denver available for viewing on-line. They have decent scans that can be downloaded, and each image has a caption. From what I can tell, this collection is of his early work.

http://libraryphoto.cr.usgs.gov/cgi-bin/search.cgi?search_mode=noPunct&selection=Jackson+W.H.%7CJackson+W.H.

Long before the internet, I used to go the library to pick out the ones I wanted copied, and seeing the large versions they had there was a great way to see them.

[ROL]

But Jackson was one of the masters of creating skyline cutouts
providing bold graphic tension with surrounding rock masses etc.

Totally worthless. Just another revisionist Ansel Adams copyist.













P.S. Yes, that was (intended to be) a JOKE – aimed at anyone with no historical education and/or sensitivity to the landscape as an art form, who thinks that anyone who loves to communicate the emotional pull of the natural world in monochrome has to be purposely standing in AA's footprints. :p