Yellowstone & Grand Teton Wildlife Portfolio

Rating:
Summary: Against the Grain
Review: I love the work of Henry Holdsworth. For almost seven years I've had a 20 by 30-inch print by him hanging on my wall. It shows a herd of bison moving up an S-shaped creek bed in Yellowstone Park in a snowstorm. The colors are muted and condensed into a narrow range of light that provides a subtle contrast to the huge beasts. A similar picture appears on the cover of Holdsworth?s portfolio of pictures of the wildlife of Yellowstone and Grand Teton.

The pictures in the book cover the full range of animals that dwell in the two parks and surrounding area. Although most of the pictures show the dominant wildlife forms like buffalo, moose and elk, there are also pictures of other less frequently seen animals like grosbeaks and mountain lions. And apparently, in those few cases where Holdsworth did not have an image that satisfied his vision, he included the pictures of other photographers.

Holdsworth is not afraid to put principal players into a subordinate position in a picture to tell a story. I was particularly impressed by his treatment of wolves. There are some good close-ups, but I really found the picture of a bull elk in the fog with the vague outlines of five wolves at a greater distance, just barely visible in the thick grass and fog, to be quite an effective story teller. Another picture of a line of wolves making their way through the snow and pines of the Lamar Valley tells a dramatic story even though there is no prey in sight.

Holdsworth loves to take pictures under difficult conditions. Many of the pictures show animals in the steam that erupts from inside the earth in Yellowstone, but the photographer also captures foggy, misty days and animals surviving in a snowy landscape. In many of these pictures the range of light is greatly subdued.

Unfortunately this style may also be Holdsworth's greatest weakness, for commercial purposes. The current trend in outdoor photography is highly saturated pictures with the full range of tones from the most impenetrable blacks to eye-dazzling whites. Some of this is the legacy of Ansel Adams, and modern-day photographers like Art Wolfe. Some of this is the result of the ability to manipulate the image in digital programs, like Photoshop. But Holdsworth seems to have rejected this style to follow his own path. At first I thought that this was a result of the printers' lack of art. However, the few pictures in the book that are more in keeping with current sensibilities convinced me that this limited range of light was a conscious style decision that the photographer had reached. Whether you like it or not depends on your own aesthetic.

Even if this is not your style, the animal pictures are wonderful enough in form that nature lovers will appreciate this book. And lovers of Yellowstone and Grand Teton will treasure this book.