Colorado 1870-2000 II

by John Fielder

This is volume II of the Jackson/Fielder project with 110 new comparison photo pair. Volumes I and II together represent the entire project in which the historic images of early west photographer William Henry Jackson capture a Colorado landscape both pristine and already dramatically affected by the onslaught on western civilization. Standing exactly where Jackson stood, and pointing his own camera in precisely the same direction, John Fielder has rephotographed Jackson's Colorado images to capture the often startling change that has occurred over the last century. The result is both breathtaking and stark, hopeful and disquieting. John Fielder describes the profound experience of traveling the state and seeing the landscape from Jackson's perspective, and reflects upon changes of the last 130 years.

Genres: Photography, Nonfiction, History

156 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2005

About the author

John Fielder (August 2, 1950 – August 11, 2023) was an American landscape photographer, nature writer, the publisher of over 40 books, and a conservationist.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a Colorado native, this was a fascinating book. Colorado's growth and economy have generally had an upward trajectory, so I assumed that every modern landscape would be filled with tract homes. Thankfully, this was not the case. Several of the older mining towns had vanished and had returned to nature. Some of the most touching photographs showed large rocks that had not changed in one hundred years. Maybe not in one thousand years, for all we know. There is meaningful commentary interspersed throughout the book relating to past events and to the future of the land. The entire family enjoyed studying the past and present to see the changes.

[Kristal Stidham · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm absolutely fascinated by these big coffee table books that feature comparative before and after photos. This set of landscapes are separated by over one hundred years, but the differences are rarely shocking considering that they're mostly of Colorado's magnificent mountains, which haven't changed much in a human lifetime. Additionally, I was a bit underwhelmed by the narrative, which is mostly about the history of land management in the state -- a subject which could have been interesting but just wasn't.

Still, it's a great book that I'd recommend to anyone who loves Colorado and/or photography... just not as perfect as a similar book I once read about the Black Hills of South Dakota which focused on juxtaposing contemporary shots with pictures from the Custer Expedition.