A National Geographic exhibit of historic and contemporary photos of the American West will open Sept. 28 at the University of Oregon's Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art.
“National Geographic Greatest Photographs of the American West” – which features 125 years of shots from various photographers – will remain at the museum through Dec. 31. A free public reception from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sept. 27 will mark the exhibition's opening the following day.
The exhibit replaces “By Way of These Eyes: The Hyland Collection of Photography,” which had been scheduled for view Sept. 28 – Dec. 31. It includes photographs by Sam Abell, Ansel Adams, William Albert Allard, Edward Curtis, David Alan Harvey, William Henry Jackson, Sarah Leen, Joel Sartore and many others.
National Geographic has published photographs throughout its 125-year history that both support and defy romantic notions of the American West's land and people. The special exhibition examines wide open spaces, spectacular rock formations and the cowboy life – along with struggles for limited natural resources, Native American cultural continuity and new energy sources.
Drawn from the National Geographic Archive, the exhibit offers a broad understanding of a region that has long captivated photographers.
The exhibit is organized into four sections that focus on a different aspects of the American West and its importance to the national identity. “Legends” portrays some of the cowboys, Native Americans and landscapes that define the vast area. “Encounters” showcases the interactions among the people of the West, visitors and wildlife. “Boundaries” features places where endless skies, boundless plains and dramatic mountains meet natural and manmade limits. “Visions” explores the growth of the American West and where its story may go in the future.
While its editorial coverage spans destinations around the globe, National Geographic consistently returns to the West and highlights the importance of the region to human imagination.
Accompanying the exhibition is the book, “National Geographic Greatest Photographs of the American West: Capturing 125 Years of Majesty, Spirit and Adventure,” with a foreword by James McNutt, president and CEO of the National Museum of Wildlife Art of the United States.
“The role of photography in creating and perpetuating beliefs and understandings about the West has been continuous and evolving,” McNutt writes. “Beginning with adventurous pioneers in the field and never ceasing to the present day, photography accumulated an enormous record of change beyond the 100th meridian.”
The book was produced by Rich Clarkson, who also produced the 2011 “Track Town, USA,” a book and subsequent exhibition showing the history of the University of Oregon’s historic Hayward Field. Clarkson, the former director of photography and senior assistant editor of the National Geographic Society, was named by “American Photo” magazine as one of the 50 most influential individuals in American photography. He will present a talk at the JSMA at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 6.
Photographer Sam Abell returns to the JSMA for a talk at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28. He and Torbin Ulrik Nissen premiered their exhibition “Amazonia” at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art in 2010. Abell has worked with the National Geographic Society since 1970 and has photographed more than 20 articles on various cultural and wilderness subjects.
“The American West” was organized with the National Museum of Wildlife Art of the United States and Museums West; presented by the Mays Family Foundation; traveled by National Geographic. The exhibition is being made possible at the JSMA by the Coeta and Donald Barker Special Exhibitions Endowment, the Harold & Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation and JSMA members.
- from the UO's Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art