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Sierra Club Exhibit Format Series #5
The Place No One Knew: Glen Canyon on the Colorado
Poetry and prose combine with color photographs to record the beauty of this region before it was closed for a reservoir
176 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1963
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
April 21, 2012
I got a copy of Eliot Porter's Glen Canyon book after reading Edward Abbey's "Desert Solitaire," a chapter of which is devoted to a downriver rafting trip along this stretch of the Colorado River just before the dam was built. While Abbey's descriptions are vivid, I wanted to see with my own eyes what he was describing. And Porter's camera is the closest you can get to doing that today.
His pictures are, of course, not the real thing, but they are about as breathtaking as photography can be. The colors, textures, reflections, and the play of light and shadow are wonderful, and each photograph is distinctly different. His own description of the canyon's display of color and light in the introductory essay "The Living Canyon" give an instructive insight into the eye of the photographer. His awareness of what he is looking at and his ways of choosing to look help the reader to see even more in the 80 photographs that follow.
While some of the photographs capture the monumental scale of the canyon walls and formations, many focus on the myriad surfaces that are revealed to the eye: erosion patterns, lichen, rippling water flow, the dark streaking mineral stains extending from seeps, the rough texture of weathered sandstone in glancing sunlight, smooth river stones, the layered stripes of exposed sediment, the trickling spread of water falling from overhead springs, the hanging tapestry coloration of the walls, whorled and striated rock, dry sand. There are also photographs of plants: moonflower, maidenhair fern, willow, tamarisk, redbud, columbine, cane. Above all, there is the rich array of colors, capturing a great variety of moods and attitudes.
Porter was recognized for his photography of birds, and while there are no birds visible in these photographs, his introductory essay makes mention of them, and when looked at with that awareness, many of the pictures also seem to capture a sense of "air space" for flight. Before turning to photography, Porter was a Harvard professor of biochemistry and bacteriology, and it's interesting to see the somewhat dispassionate eye of the scientist in the way he uses the camera. While the story of Glen Canyon may induce sorrow or anger, the photographs are strong for their lack of sentimentality.
The pictures also excite a curiosity about the geology of the river, and the book concludes with a short essay describing how the canyon walls reveal the geological ages that have gone into forming this part of the earth, going back millions of years. The book also includes a catalog of all the plants and animals that inhabited Glen Canyon before its inundation. Altogether, with its quotes from other writers, including Loren Eiseley, Joseph Wood Krutch, Wallace Stegner, and members of John Wesley Powell's expedition in the 19th century, this book is a fitting record of a great lost national treasure.
His pictures are, of course, not the real thing, but they are about as breathtaking as photography can be. The colors, textures, reflections, and the play of light and shadow are wonderful, and each photograph is distinctly different. His own description of the canyon's display of color and light in the introductory essay "The Living Canyon" give an instructive insight into the eye of the photographer. His awareness of what he is looking at and his ways of choosing to look help the reader to see even more in the 80 photographs that follow.
While some of the photographs capture the monumental scale of the canyon walls and formations, many focus on the myriad surfaces that are revealed to the eye: erosion patterns, lichen, rippling water flow, the dark streaking mineral stains extending from seeps, the rough texture of weathered sandstone in glancing sunlight, smooth river stones, the layered stripes of exposed sediment, the trickling spread of water falling from overhead springs, the hanging tapestry coloration of the walls, whorled and striated rock, dry sand. There are also photographs of plants: moonflower, maidenhair fern, willow, tamarisk, redbud, columbine, cane. Above all, there is the rich array of colors, capturing a great variety of moods and attitudes.
Porter was recognized for his photography of birds, and while there are no birds visible in these photographs, his introductory essay makes mention of them, and when looked at with that awareness, many of the pictures also seem to capture a sense of "air space" for flight. Before turning to photography, Porter was a Harvard professor of biochemistry and bacteriology, and it's interesting to see the somewhat dispassionate eye of the scientist in the way he uses the camera. While the story of Glen Canyon may induce sorrow or anger, the photographs are strong for their lack of sentimentality.
The pictures also excite a curiosity about the geology of the river, and the book concludes with a short essay describing how the canyon walls reveal the geological ages that have gone into forming this part of the earth, going back millions of years. The book also includes a catalog of all the plants and animals that inhabited Glen Canyon before its inundation. Altogether, with its quotes from other writers, including Loren Eiseley, Joseph Wood Krutch, Wallace Stegner, and members of John Wesley Powell's expedition in the 19th century, this book is a fitting record of a great lost national treasure.
January 25, 2015
The centerpiece of this book is the photography of world famous nature photographer Eliot Porter. This book was coproduced by the Sierra Club to memorialize and document the beauty of Glen Canyon and the Colorado River that flows through the canyon. The dam started operations in 1963 the same year that this book was published. This project has been the subject of much environmental discussion concening its need and also the destruction of such a beautiful canyon and the book was created to support that premise. The book has a forward by Eliot Porter, but is organized in such a manner that an Eliot Porter photograph of the canyon is illustrated on one page and a text from explorers of the canyon or other naturalists and scientists like John Wesley Powell, Henry David Thoreau and Albert Einstein share their often poetic thoughts on the canyon or preservation of the natural world. The photography is excellent and their point is well made.
January 19, 2023
Whole lotta very pretty pictures mourning the loss of Glen Canyon under Lake Powell. Dave Brower's essay at the beginning is one of the best stated arguments in Glen Canyon Dam literature.
problem is, Glen Canyon was not "the place no one knew." The Paiute and Navajo lived there for centuries, and ancestral Puebloans centuries before them. Thousands of people have lived in the canyon - cowboys, gold and uranium miners, hermits, you name it. Many more have passed through - outlaws, Mormon pioneers, river runners. A better title might be "The Place No Politically Important Environmentalist Knew."
problem is, Glen Canyon was not "the place no one knew." The Paiute and Navajo lived there for centuries, and ancestral Puebloans centuries before them. Thousands of people have lived in the canyon - cowboys, gold and uranium miners, hermits, you name it. Many more have passed through - outlaws, Mormon pioneers, river runners. A better title might be "The Place No Politically Important Environmentalist Knew."
February 11, 2017
Quotable:
Captain Dutton, Powell's particular protege... found, as everyone who ever attempted to write about that country has found, that word pictures are about as inadequate as painted ones.
If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water. -Loren Eiseley
What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on? -Henry David Thoreau
Poetry is as necessary to comprehension as science. It is impossible to live without reverence as it is without joy. -Henry Beston
Captain Dutton, Powell's particular protege... found, as everyone who ever attempted to write about that country has found, that word pictures are about as inadequate as painted ones.
If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water. -Loren Eiseley
What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on? -Henry David Thoreau
Poetry is as necessary to comprehension as science. It is impossible to live without reverence as it is without joy. -Henry Beston
January 23, 2021
I think everyone should read this. This collection is a striking warning to all humans compelling us to think through our actions and prioritize our environment. The Forward in this is incredibly thoughtful, informed, and offers a strong call to action. This book is full of stunning pictures and imaginative quotes to flesh out emotions that are portrayed by the accompanied photographs. This book is a beautiful mourning of Glen Canyon.
August 7, 2024
The story of Glen canyon and the pictures in this book nearly moved me to tears. I grew up in Utah visiting this desert and this landscape is permanently carved into my soul. What a profound loss for the world.
(For the record I didn't read all the quotations in here, but the introduction and afterward were good)
(For the record I didn't read all the quotations in here, but the introduction and afterward were good)
July 22, 2018
Magnificent!
January 4, 2021
Such a tragic, unnecessary loss of pristine natural beauty. Hopefully we will learn a lesson from this short sightedness.
December 30, 2023
Classic of the environmental movement.
November 4, 2015
5 stars. The Place No One Knew: Glen Canyon on the Colorado is a book that is intellectually stimulating, visually stunning, utterly peaceful, and entirely maddening. The lush photography of Eliot Porter illustrates so much beauty in the interplay of water, light, rock, and plants. And to think that all this is inundated under Lake Powell by the Glen Canyon Dam--a sickening loss of a natural wonder.
Porter's photography is noteworthy for its use of color, texture, and reflection. Glen Canyon was a perfect playground for his lenses, with high, narrow slots tightly channeling the light against the vivid stone of the southwestern US. Few of the photographs show wide landscape views; many find grandeur in the small details of the canyon and its life. Water is often absent, though its role in carving the canyon is always palpable.
The beautifully-reproduced full color plates are paired with quotes from naturalists, thinkers, and notes from John Wesley Powell's 1869 expedition through the canyon. The edition I have is the 1988 reissue, featuring expanded photographs from Porter's collection.
The Place No One Knew stands as a testament both to Porter's talents and a beautiful place that we chose to destroy. It is a shame that Glen Canyon may only be experienced through 50 year old photographs.
Porter's photography is noteworthy for its use of color, texture, and reflection. Glen Canyon was a perfect playground for his lenses, with high, narrow slots tightly channeling the light against the vivid stone of the southwestern US. Few of the photographs show wide landscape views; many find grandeur in the small details of the canyon and its life. Water is often absent, though its role in carving the canyon is always palpable.
The beautifully-reproduced full color plates are paired with quotes from naturalists, thinkers, and notes from John Wesley Powell's 1869 expedition through the canyon. The edition I have is the 1988 reissue, featuring expanded photographs from Porter's collection.
The Place No One Knew stands as a testament both to Porter's talents and a beautiful place that we chose to destroy. It is a shame that Glen Canyon may only be experienced through 50 year old photographs.
March 15, 2018
This beautifully memorializes the Glen Canyon before the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam. The photographs and quotes from important writers of the era, those who floated the canyon before the dam, give an excellent vision of our natural resources before man's intervention.
December 1, 2011
Dad was interested in environmental causes as far back as I can remember. He was a joiner and donor more than an activist except in cases--such as a long-term suit against the American Electric Power Company's Donald C. Cook Nuclear Plant in Michigan--directly involving his interests. He belonged at one time or another to the World Wildlife Fund, Friends of Wolves, the Nature Conservancy and the Sierra Club, as well as to some more local organizations. Literature, including books and, in the case of wolves, records from these organizations were all over the house.
This book was one of a Sierra Club series about unspoiled places in North America. Some of these books had substantial texts, but this was basically a picture book, a beautiful picture book featuring a portion of the Colorado River now lost to a dam.
This book was one of a Sierra Club series about unspoiled places in North America. Some of these books had substantial texts, but this was basically a picture book, a beautiful picture book featuring a portion of the Colorado River now lost to a dam.
July 8, 2015
A wonderful collection of photographs by Eliot Porter of Glen Canyon before the dam, and before the flooding of Lake Powell. I was born far too late to have experienced Glen Canyon first hand, so Porter's photos and the words of people like John Wesley Powell are all that is left for me to wander the side canyons of what must have been a majestic place on Earth.
September 9, 2007
This has some fantastic pictures of Glen Canyon before it was the Dam was built. Edward Abbey refers to it in Desert Solitaire.
February 15, 2008
Check this book out if you can find it, or are at my house.
August 2, 2008
I'm upset that I didn't get to see this canyon before it was filled with water. Beautiful photos.
March 27, 2017
One of the great photographic projects in American History.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews