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Philip Hyde

1921 — 2006

Many people refer to Philip Hyde as the under appre­ciated master land­scape photog­rapher of the 20th Century. His photographs partic­i­pated in more envi­ron­mental campaigns than those of any other photog­rapher. At the birth of the modern envi­ron­mental movement, he was one of the primary illus­trators of the ground­breaking Sierra Club Exhibit Format Series. He dedi­cated his life to defending Western American wilderness, working with the Wilderness Society, National Audubon and others. His color land­scapes inspired a gener­ation of photog­ra­phers, while helping to establish color photog­raphy as a fine art. His photographs helped protect Dinosaur National Monument, the Grand Canyon, the Coast Redwoods, Point Reyes, King’s Canyon, Canyon de Chelly, the North Cascades, Canyon­lands, the Wind Rivers, Big Sur and many other National Parks and wilderness areas. American Photo Magazine named Philip Hyde’s photo­graph, “Cathedral In The Desert, Glen Canyon, Utah, 1964” one of the top100 photographs of the 20th century. Ansel Adams said that Philip Hy de was “one of the very best photog­ra­phers of the natural scene in A merica.” Pulitzer Prize winning photog­rapher Jack Dykinga said,“Philip Hyde inspired many of the ‘Who’s Who’ of Land­scape Photog­raphy working today.” In Outdoor Photog­rapher and many other m agazines, Philip Hyde is referred to as “one of the all-​time most influ­ential land­scape masters.” Born and raised in San Fran­cisco, Philip Hyde lived for 50 years in the house he built in the Sierra Nevada Moun­tains of Cali­fornia with his late wife Ardis. At the Cali­fornia School of Fine Art, now the San Fran­cisco Art Institute, Philip Hyde studied under Ansel Adams, Minor White, Edward Weston, Imogen Cunningham, Lisette Model, Dorothea Lange and other definers of the medium. Philip Hyde’s work has appeared in more than 80 books and 100 major publi­ca­tions including The New York Times, Audubon, Life, National Geographic, Aperture, B&W Magazine, Fortune and Newsweek. His work has been exhibited in over 100 of North America’s finest venues. Please see lists of exhi­bi­tions under “INFO”. The North American Nature Photog­raphy Asso­ci­ation honored him with a lifetime achievement award in 1996. He received the Cali­fornia Conser­vation Council’s Merit Award in 1962 and the Albert Bender Grant in 1956. After losing his eyesight in 2000, he relied on dreams for glimpses of the natural world he spent a lifetime defending. Hisson, David, who walked many wilderness miles with his parents, continues to involve the histor­i­cally signif­icant photographs in conser­vation efforts. A portion of proceeds from fine art print sales goes toward envi­ron­mental causes. David, whose articles have been nationally syndi­cated, is writing a memoir about his family and blogging about fine art land­scape photog­raphy. List of Books with Philip Hyde As Primary Contributor The most important in The Sierra Club Exhibit Format Series containing the most photographs are marked with a star (*) **“Drylands” and **“The Range of Light” were his crowning personal achieve­ments and contain far more photographs than any of the other books including those in the Sierra Club Series. List In **The Range Of Light (1992) Sierra Club Annual (1951) This Is Dinosaur (1955) Wilderness: America’s Living Heritage (1961) *Island In time: The Point Reyes Peninsula (1962; 2nd ed. 1973) *The Last Redwoods (1963) *Time and The River Flowing: Grand Canyon (1964) *Navajo Wild­lands: As Long as the Rivers Shall Run ((1967) *South of Yosemite (1968) The Grand Colorado (1969) The Wilderness World of the Grand Canyon (1971) *Slickrock: The Canyon Country Of Southeast Utah (1971: 2nd ed. 1987) *Alaska: The Great Land (1974) Glen Canyon Port­folio (1979) Images of the Southwest (Dye Transfer color port­folio, 1982) **Drylands: The Five North American Deserts (1987; 2nd ed. 1990) Books Not Listed In The Range Of Light A Climber’s Guide to Glacier National Park (1960) Wilderness, America’s Living Heritage (1961) Wild­lands in our Civi­lization (1964) *The Wild Cascades: Forgotten Parkland (1965) National Parks of the West (1965) *Not Man Apart (1965) Glen Canyon Before Lake Powell An Island Called Cali­fornia (1971) The Pursuit of Wilderness (1971) The Beau­tiful Southwest (1972) Mountain and Desert, Sierra Club lith­o­graph port­folio, (1973) A Trace of Desert Waters (1976) Voices for the Earth (1979) State Parks Of Cali­fornia: from 1864 to the present (1980) Sierra Club: 100 Years of Protecting Nature (1991) Ghosts of Glen Canyon (2009)

Philip Hyde Artist’s Statement
Compiled and Edited by David Leland Hyde from Range of Light, Slickrock, Drylands and Other Books, Articles, Posters, Inter­views and Port­folios.
Rev. January 26, 2010

My intent is not to awe, but to stim­ulate empathy and love. My basic concern is with what Emerson called ‘the integrity of natural objects.’ I am not inter­ested in pretty pictures for post­cards. I feel better if I just get a few people to see some­thing they haven’t seen before. I rarely wait for light or for some missing element, partly because I wish to avoid pouring nature into a mold, but also because waiting for some­thing to happen may well mean missing some­thing else. Black-​and-​white is excellent expe­rience for color work because it encourages sensi­tivity to form, texture, tonal grada­tions and the quality of light. Color photographs that lack these qual­ities and rely too much on the shock value of color alone will not sustain interest. I begin to see when I leave the car behind. People are ever hurrying over the increasing highways that pene­trate lovely country and either lacerate it or pass it by unseen. A mind at peace may be found in any indi­vidual or people who have kept touch with what the land is saying and who lack the benefits of instant dissem­i­nation of the human troubles that make news. After reading Gandhi, I see that what we need now is a peaceful envi­ron­mental revo­lution. The Earth will survive, but will man survive on the Earth?

http://​www​.phili​phyde​.com/

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