River of No Return

The idea of the American wilderness has long captivated artists fascinated by the ways in which the West embodies the nation's identity. This volume celebrates the unsurpassed natural splendor of a fabled region, while also presenting the complexities involved in finding a delicately delineated balance between the needs of ranchers, conservationists, miners, tourists, and locals in this vast landscape.
Using nineteenth-century technology to describe twenty-first century dilemmas, Laura McPhee makes large-format photographs of exquisite color, clarity, and definition. Working in the Sawtooth Valley in central Idaho, she includes in her subject matter the region's spectacular mountain ranges, rivers, and ranchlands; its immense spaces and natural resources; the effects of mining and devastating wildfires; and the human stories of those who live and work there. Featured texts set McPhee's photographs in the context of the work of her predecessors, including Carleton Watkins and Frederick Sommer, and discuss her working methods and experiences photographing the evolving landscape.

Dabney Bailey is the Linda Wyatt Gruber '66 Curator of Painting, Sculpture, and Photography at the Davis Museum and Cultural Center at Wellesley College.