Tuesday April 23, 2019
I first visited Thomas Manglesen’s Jackson WY art gallery sometime in the 1990s. I was hooked from my first look. Over the years I’ve purchased notecards, calendars, and books by him or including his photos. A few months ago I heard that the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson Hole WY had an exhibit (Thomas D. Mangelsen: A Life in the Wild) up of his work I knew I had to go. My life is pretty busy and with one thing and another I was running out of time since it was ending on May 5, 2019.
I was on the road by 1:00 p.m. I stopped very little and arrived at the museum by 3:30. This meant I only had 1.5 hours to look at the exhibit. The nice lady at the desk gave me a pass to use on my next visit, because I wouldn’t have enough time to explore the whole museum. She was right.
This retrospective exhibit was amazing. I know many of these photos since I have been following his work since the mid 90’s. But this is the first time I got to see them in large format, framed identically, with information about each of the photos. This time I noticed how the light, focus, backgrounds, and composition worked. I am a very different person appreciating the photos compared to where I back in the 1990s.
I was particularly struck by was his cougar photo. He spent 42 days, 12-14 hour days, sitting at/near the location of the cougar taking photos. Only one was represented in this exhibit, though he did create a book with them. Work ethic. He has so many amazing photos because he continues to take and work for them. It was very inspirational.
I left the museum and did a photo drive north to the park for an hour. I knew I wanted to get home earlier rather than later and preferably over the pass before dark. The timing was impeccable as was the moose, the mountains and the elk along the drive.
Practice. I definitely need more practice and to learn more about how to use my camera. I’m not in his caliber. But I still love taking photos and I am beginning to love and better still understand the process of making them work.
Raven on Bird Statue at the Jackson Museum
Yellow bellied marmot at the entrance to the driveway at the museum
Moose
Tetons
Elk
An almost awesome photo with two elk looking like they are about to kiss photobombed by a bicyclist. Too funny
It really was a lovely day. — Jenny
From the museum’s website:
“About Thomas Mangelsen:
Thomas Mangelsen was named the 2011 Conservation Photographer of the Year by Nature’s Best Photography. This placed his work in the permanent collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. He was named one of the 40 Most Influential Nature Photographers by Outdoor Photography, and one of the 100 Most Important People in Photography by American Photo magazine. The North American Nature Photography Association has named him Outstanding Nature Photographer of the Year. The British Broadcasting Corporation gave him its coveted, prestigious award, Wildlife Photographer of the Year.
Thomas Mangelsen has traveled to the wildest corners of North America, Africa, and beyond, for more than 40 years. In doing so, he’s and produced a body of work second to none. At a time when digital technology is, notoriously, conditioning users to have shorter attention spans, A Life In The Wild stands as a testament by Thomas Mangelsen. It shows the rewards that can come to those who get close to nature.”
“The Thomas D. Mangelsen – A Life In The Wild, Tour is produced by David J. Wagner, L.L.C. (https://www.davidjwagnerllc.com/) in partnership with Thomas D. Mangelsen, Inc. (https://www.mangelsen.com/)”
BlueRavenBirders 