Adirondack: Wilderness

by Nathan Farb (Photographer), Nature Conservancy

Since its inception as "forever wild" in the 1880s, New York's Adirondack Park has served as a model of conservation for the world. The Nature Conservancy, a nonprofit organization devoted to protecting the diversity of life on Earth and preeminent Adirondack photographer Nathan Farb here team up to reveal feats of nature that the human eye on its own would not perceive. In the tradition of Ansel Adams and Eliot Porter, Farb renders the most miniscule detail as clearly as the grandest vista.

Genres: Photography

208 pages, Hardcover

First published November 13, 2004

Reviews

[Mike Reiff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been sick for a while, and for the past few weeks hard of hearing. It’s put me in a tough place personally, so at my parents I looked for a book on the Adirondacks, where we have a tiny cabin. It’s way too cold to go there now, and the kids don’t make it easy, love them to death, so I thought some nice pictures would fit the bill for now. Nathan Farb certainly takes excellent photos here, many of which are epic and now iconic in their depictions of the Adirondacks. But what I found incredibly moving was Farb’s series of mini essays that percolate through this book. The son of a rabbi in a region without many Jewish folks, reminiscences on crossing paths with major historical figures, and plenty others from other times quoted philosophers and thinkers juxtaposed to massive portraits of nature. Adirondack rocks are made from the same geologic make up as moon rocks. Towards the end Farb processing his grief at the loss of his mother and a different accident involving his daughter through the power of the land. And then, as I expected, a magnificent essay by Bill McKibben, one of my all time favorites, contextualizes the project of the park in both beautiful prose and also some illuminating context I hadn’t considered over 30 years spending time there, both the breadth and depth of the project and the true and practical example it sets for the world. I know I should give this book back to my parents, but maybe I’ll hold into it a little longer.