Lewis and Clark Revisited: A Photographer's Trail (Lyndhurst Book) [Paperback]

Greg MacGregor (Author), Iris Tillman Hill (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Lyndhurst Book | Publication Date: October 2003

"Lewis and Clark Revisited" takes us on a stunning visual journey through contemporary America. Almost ten years ago photographer Greg MacGregor began his journey, camera in hand, following the rivers west and, like Lewis and Clark, he found a country 'transformed by generations of human habitation'. In photographs that range from remarkable and beautiful views to powerful and unsettling images of decay, from the gently humorous to the deeply elegiac, MacGregor's eye never strays from its search for ways to see and understand the American landscape and the people who shaped it. Like others drawn to the story of the expedition, MacGregor found inspiration in the writings of Lewis and Clark. Their journals provided him with another lens through which to look, the lens of history, and he used their words as his guidebook to follow the human imprint on the old route.The book includes many delightful and revealing extracts from the journals. These historical texts take us back to the time of Lewis and Clark while they illuminate the world represented in MacGregor's contemporary photographs. The interplay of words and images reveals the multiple faces of the landscape and reminds us of the origins of this great story two hundred years ago. "Lewis and Clark Revisited" offers rare insight into the American experience, asking us to examine, as Ronda aptly puts it, 'who we were then, who we are now, and who we might become'. An exhibition of photographs from "Lewis and Clark Revisited" is travelling to more than fifteen cities throughout the United States as part of the nationwide commemoration of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial.The venues include the Washington State Historical Society, Sioux City Art Center, Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, and Philadelphia Museum of Art, among others. "Two centuries after Lewis and Clark the signs of change are everywhere across the wide Missouri. And they are everywhere in Greg MacGregor's photographs. Rather than artfully screening out dams, power lines, and amusement parks, his images challenge us to confront our romantic notions about the West.These photographs call out to us, asking us to move beyond nostalgia for an imaginary past or bitterness about a seemingly cluttered present to acknowledge the presence of the daily ordinary - what historian John Brinckerhoff Jackson describes as 'the vernacular landscape. ' 'A journey on the Lewis and Clark trail today takes us into the heart of that vernacular landscape, countries both ordinary and filled with wonder' - from the Introduction by James P. Ronda. Greg MacGregor is professor of photography at California State University, Haywood, and author of "Overland: The California Emigrant Trail of 1841-1870". His work has been exhibited throughout the United States and abroad.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

With bicentennial observances of the Corps of Discovery's epic trek set to unfold over the next two years, the already huge specialty and popular literature about Lewis and Clark is about to expand. "Seens of visionary inchantment" is Meriwether Lewis' description of the White Cliffs in Montana, which are marred by a campground in MacGregor's accompanying photograph. That's praise, not criticism, of MacGregor's shutter skill in his album of nearly 100 black-and-white images, which set forth places along the corps' 1804-06 route as they appear today. Although generally not a pretty sight, with dams, power plants, and grain elevators having supplanted waterfalls, campfires, and wildlife, there yet remain refuges of original scenery whose beauty so transported Lewis and which MacGregor ably arrests in an ethereal timelessness. With excerpts from the journals furnishing his text, augmented by his captions of the modern-day view, MacGregor's book will prove popular. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"Two centuries after Lewis and Clark the signs of change are everywhere across the wide Missouri. And they are everywhere in Greg MacGregor's photographs. Rather than artfully screening out dams, power lines, and amusement parks, his images challenge us to confront our romantic notions about the West."

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Univ of Washington Pr (October 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0295983434
• ISBN-13: 978-0295983431
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 10 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,737,886 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fine - often thought-provoking - set of images, March 6, 2005

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lewis and Clark Revisited: A Photographer's Trail (Lyndhurst Book) (Paperback)

Another classic guide to Lewis and Clark which stands out from the crowd, Lewis And Clark Revisited: A Photographer's Trail follows the famed explorer's route and packs in a wealth of black and white photos of the Lewis and Clark experience. Almost ten years ago photographer Reg MacGregor began his journey following the Lewis and Clark route, photographing the country along the way. Highly recommended for both simple browing and serious study, Lewis And Clark Revisited provides a fine - often thought-provoking - set of images reflecting a much-changed land since the original expeditions.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lewis & Clark Revisited: a Photographer"s Trail, May 30, 2008

By 

Sarah Greene "Mirror writer" (Gilmer, TX USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lewis and Clark Revisited: A Photographer's Trail (Lyndhurst Book) (Paperback)

This book of contemporary photographs of sites visited by Lewis & Clark on their Corps of Discovery trip from St. Louis to the Pacific in Oregon in 1804-06 was an ideal traveling companion for my recent cruise from Portland up the Columbia River to the Snake River in Idaho, following in their footsteps, The excerpts from Lewis' and Clark's journals juxtaposed to the photos are fascinating for anyone interested in this epic adventure.