Canyon Community Center hosts “As Grand and Unusual Sights as The Heart Could Desire: John Wesley Powell’s Photographers”
By Michael Plyler
Zion National Park Forever Project presents “As Grand and Unusual Sights as The Heart Could Desire: John Wesley Powell’s Photographers” by Dr. James Swensen Nov. 7 at 7:30 p.m. This presentation explores the work and careers of Powell’s photographers. It will also investigate their activities within the complicated dynamics of the expedition as well as the ways they attempted to capture and comprehend one of the most dramatic places on earth. The lecture will be held at the Canyon Community Center in Springdale. This lecture is free and open to the public.
As Zion National Park celebrates its centennial, and as we recognize the 150th anniversary of Powell’s first expedition of the Colorado River, a lecture about the photographers who accompanied Powell’s second expedition is the perfect complement to our Centennial Celebration of Art event Nov. 6–10. There will be activities surrounding the Centennial Art event occurring in both Springdale and Zion National Park. Please click here for a full schedule of events.
In 1871, John Wesley Powell returned to the Colorado Plateau two years after his first expedition. When he returned, he came with a different purpose. The region was no longer the great unknown, but its sublime landscapes demanded extensive study and representation. A crucial tool in this endeavor was photography. Powell employed three photographers throughout his explorations of the Southwest: E.O. Beaman, James Fennemore, and oarman-turned-photographer John Hillers, who became one of the most important photographers of the American West.
James R. Swensen is an associate professor of art history and the history of photography at Brigham Young University. His research interests include the art and photography of the American West. He is the author of several articles and two books, including “In a Rugged Land: Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, and the Three Mormon Towns Collaboration.” He is the recipient of the Butler Young Scholar Award from the Charles Redd Center for Western American Studies and the LeRoy Axland Best Utah History Article Award.
The Zion National Park Forever Project’s Fern and J. L. Crawford Lecture Series is a collaborative presentation of the Forever Project and the Division of Resource Management in Zion National Park. For more information please call (435) 772-3264. Lectures are free and open to the public. The Zion National Park Forever Project is the official nonprofit partner of Zion National Park.
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