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Larry N. Olson
In 1963 the Sierra Club published 'The Place No One Knew', a book of Eliot Porter's photographs of Glen Canyon on the Colorado River, which indicted our society for foolishly damming and flooding one of the most beautiful places on earth. Porter’s images were my first revelation in color landscape photography; looking at them, I wanted my camera, like his, to make a plea for wild areas.
When Porter called his images "intimate landscapes," I thought he was referring to their emphasis on foreground (sometimes to the exclusion of any background at all). Over time, I have come to see additional meanings for the phrase, including deep knowledge and love. An artist who knows and loves his or her subject can perhaps come closer to doing it justice.
Originally a native of Minnesota, I moved to Oregon to attend Lewis & Clark College. While earning a degree in biology, I took a black-and-white photography workshop at the Malheur Environmental Field Station in southeastern Oregon. I fell in love with photographing nature, which for me combined two strong interests. After graduating in 1973, I was drawn to the independent lifestyle of a professional artist. Searching for uncompromised beauty, I spent time in the wilderness skiing, backpacking, and kayaking, and making photographs all the while. These were the only times I felt whole and alive and without worry. However, it was then when I first realized there is not enough wilderness left.
For thirty years, my life has revolved around my cameras and wilderness. I have traveled throughout the West, and exhibited my prints in a number of galleries. My compositions have become less cluttered, more balanced, sharper, and more pure in color.
In 1988, motivated by Oregon's landmark river legislation, I began making photographs for a book to celebrate our rivers. "Oregon Rivers", which joins my photographs of the rivers in Oregon's wild and scenic river system with essays by John Daniel, was published by Westcliffe Publishers in the summer of 1997. Making these photographs provided me the opportunity for a long-term immersion in intimate landscapes. I made repeated visits to all of the fifty-six designated wild and scenic rivers in Oregon, hiking along (and often in) the rivers, roaming up and down the canyons and drainages surrounding them, seeking to capture on film the contours and facets of landscape that make up a river system. I also kayaked and canoed many of the rivers in order to visit remote sections.
Most of these photographs have been made with a medium format 6 x 7 Pentax, mounted on a large Gitzo tripod to dampen vibration and using Fujichrome Velvia transparency film. Exposures range from 1/60th of a second to 30 seconds, the average being about one second. Setting up a composition usually takes about 20 to 30 minutes, sometimes takes a few hours, and on rare occasions is accomplished in 30 seconds. I carry three lenses: a wide angle (55 mm), a normal (90mm), and a small telephoto (165 mm).
For further information, or for studio appointments in Portland, Oregon, please call 503.234.5288.
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