Beyond Light, American Landscapes

Since the invention of photography, the landscape genre has romanticized the American West. In his first book, California-based photographer Werling documents the region-encompassing California, Arizona, Nevada, and Alaska-as an uninhabited and unspoiled wilderness. Like his teacher Ansel Adams, Werling is an accomplished technician who photographs dramatic, flawless images of American mountains, deserts, and beaches with a large-format camera. Eighty of these black-and-white images are beautifully reproduced here, as is a foreword by the late photographer Cole Weston extracted from a 2003 interview that positions Werling's work within the rich tradition of the American landscape. The historical and ecological importance of Werling's photographs is discussed in essays by curator Simone Klein and conservationist Elizabeth Scott-Graham.