YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

Through the Lens of Time

Bradly J. Boner University Press of Colorado Hardcover $39.95 (368pp) 978-1-60732-448-5

Photojournalist Bradly Boner, who has spent almost two decades documenting some of the most culturally rich corners of the American landscape, first felt the power of Yellowstone at the age of ten, on a family trip that was to mark him forever. Yellowstone National Park: Through the Lens of Time is his visual tribute to the place and to the work of pioneering photographer William Henry Jackson, who, as part of the 1871 Hayden Survey, first captured its grandeur. Aware of the awe and wonder Jackson must have felt as he beheld Yellowstone for the first time, Boner did meticulous research on his photos, and then, to arrive at Jackson’s exact locations, confronted the hazards of inclement weather, the proximity of wildfires, possible confrontations with wild animals, the risk of getting lost, and waist-deep river crossings. He then retook Jackson’s black-and-white shots in breathtaking color and laid the images side by side in a gorgeous visual celebration of nature’s wild, pristine glory.

Early reports of the wonders of this wilderness were thought to be the mad ramblings of men who had spent too much time alone in the wild. It was the work of artists like Thomas Moran and photographers like Jackson that captured the imagination of the nation and inspired the creation of the world’s first national park at Yellowstone.

Now, Boner’s luscious photographs, enhanced with personal stories and information on the area’s history and geology, are available to make visiting the park a richer, more memorable experience; but even those whose travels are of the imaginary sort will be awed and enchanted by his stunning record of nature’s mighty cataclysms and the wild beauty that has been left in our keeping.