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Alaska: A Photographic Excursion - 2nd Edition

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Alaska photographer Mark Kelley and author Nick Jans capture the essence of Alaska in this award-winning photo book. A beautiful Alaska memory for those who have been here, an inspiration for those wanting to travel here, and a great journey for those who might not venture here in person. Travel through the coastal rainforest, the fishing towns and icefields of the Inside Passage; the glacier-carved landscape of Prince William Sound and Kenai Fjords; through the major cities of Anchorage and Fairbanks; and on to the crown jewel, Denali National Park.
Over 75K copies sold. New Second Edition - with forty-plus new images! Winner of a Benjamin Franklin Award
Alaska truly lives up to its billing as the Great Land, a landscape so vast and varied that it seems beyond the scale of human comprehension. After spending a combined six decades here, Mark and I have figured one thing we are never going to be able to show it all. Our offering is a mere sampler of the riches in this state, one we hope will bring you back, wanting more. All told, it is a dazzling journey. - Nick Jans, A Photographic Excursion.

160 pages, Paperback

Published January 18, 2016

3 people want to read

About the author

Mark Kelley

40 books5 followers
Award-winning Alaskan photographer Mark Kelley has built his entire career around the place he calls home-Alaska. Mark has been photographing the places and faces of his state for the past forty years. A true Alaskan ambassador, Mark knows when to be where for Alaska to reveal itself in the next photograph. Mark’s images have been reproduced as art prints and in books and calendars, collected by locals and visitors as important reminders of this great place of awe and wonder.
Mark has worked on assignment for UNESCO and Jaeger-LeCoultre, National Geographic Adventure Magazine, Outside, Alaska Magazine, the New York Times, Washington Post, Boy’s Life and USA Today. His images have appeared in National Wildlife, Sunset, National Geographic Adventure, National Geographic Traveler, National Geographic World, Alaska Magazine, Outside, Alaska Airlines, Time For Kids, Sierra, Runner’s World, Travel & Leisure, Boy’s Life, USA, and the Washington Post, among others. Mark Kelley’s images have appeared on the covers of more than two hundred publications.
Mark has published twelve photo books with over a quarter million copies sold. Mark’s latest book “Once Upon Alaska”, is a Mom’s Choice Awards® Gold Recipient and a Foreword’s 2013 Book of the Year Finalist. Mark’s books “Glacier Bay National Park: Alaska”, “Alaska’s Tracy Arm and Sawyer Glaciers”, and “Alaska: A Photographic Excursion” were awarded a Benjamin Franklin Award by The Independent Book Publishers Association in 2001, 2006, and 2008, respectively. Mark Kelley produces two annual calendars, with over 200,000 calendars sold to date, as well as note cards, postcards, bookmarks, and individually signed prints.
Mark Kelley is a silver winner in the Graphis Photography Annual 2015 Contest and a winner in the 72nd Annual Picture of the Year International Competition, Natural History Category-Reportage Division. He is a North American Nature Photography Association Showcase winner and a recipient of the Daniel Housberg Wilderness Image Award for Excellence in Still Photography from the Alaska Conservation Foundation. Mark placed first in the 2013 Nature’s Best Windland Smith Rice Photography Awards—Outdoor Adventure Category and his winning image is now part of the Smithsonian’s permanent collection. In 2014 and 2013 Mark received an “Award of Excellence” from Communications Arts, the leading trade journal for visual communications. Mark’s work in journalism has been recognized by the Alaska Press Club, the National Press Photographers Association, and the Society of Professional Journalists.

“As a kid in Buffalo, New York, I always wondered what it would be like to encounter a whale,” says Mark, “I moved north and in 1978 graduated from the University of Alaska with a journalism degree.” Mark worked as a photojournalist for the Juneau Empire, Juneau’s only daily newspaper, for over thirteen years before leaving to pursue a full-time career in freelance photography and publishing in 1993.

Mark has lived in Alaska for more than 40 years. He resides in Juneau where he and his wife, Jan, raised their two sons, Gabe and Owen.

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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
35 reviews
June 3, 2025
Great images, and enough information to be a great coffee table book.
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674 reviews3 followers
August 11, 2019
This is a gorgeous book, full of beautiful photos and interesting text. Having just spent 15 days in Alaska, I can really appreciate how much time and effort (and good luck) went into getting so many high-quality photos of Alaska. It's hard to get to the places in the photos, and you have to be very patient waiting for the right subject in the best lighting. Mary Kelley pulled it off.
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