In his inaugural book, Richard Mack has captured the spirit of the American West, its history and vastness in his extraordinary set of images depicting the Lewis & Clark Trail as most likely seen by the Lewis & Clark Expedition. To date this book has won over a dozen awards for the photography, design and printing.
In March of 2005, The Lewis & Clark Trail American Landscapes by Richard Mack was released. Since then, the book has garnered multiple awards for its photography and design. The International Photography Awards named Richard one of the Photographers of the Year and awarded The Lewis & Clark Trail American Landscapes a Silver Medal for Best Nature Book 2005. The 2006 Benjamin Franklin Book Awards gave it two Silver Medals, one for Best Coffee Table Book and one for Best Nature Book.
In The Lewis & Clark Trail American Landscapes, the vistas and majesty of the Lewis & Clark Trail have been brought to life in a magnificent set of 248 color photographs. Richard spent two years visiting key locations along the Lewis & Clark Trail – by plane, auto, and on foot – shooting specific locations at the same time of year as was originally experienced some 200 years ago. The result is an extraordinary set of images capturing the incredible diversity of the American landscape. The Lewis & Clark Expedition – also known as the Corps of Discovery – is regarded as one of the epic stories in American history. The trail stretches across the American landscape starting in St. Louis and followed the Missouri River through the woodlands of the Midwest, onto the Great Plains across Montana, entered the Bitterroot Mountains in Idaho, and glided down the Clearwater, Snake, and Columbia rivers to the Pacific Ocean. The pioneering exploits of the Corps of Discovery have been thoroughly chronicled in thousands of pages of narrative by historians as well as in the journals of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. These words, detailing the sense of discovery and the wonder of viewing untouched landscapes, essentially were the only “pictures” from this expedition. Until now.
This book illustrates the incredible journey of Lewis & Clark with brilliant and bold images accompanied by entries from Lewis & Clark’s own journals. Richard adds an account of his own journey across the country both in the forward and in his own journal in the back of the book. “I wanted the reader to have the experience of imagining what the Corps of Discovery might have seen on their journey across this country,” noted Richard, “so I showcased our landscape at the same time of year as Lewis & Clark originally had seen it.”
Yet this book transcends the Lewis & Clark Trail and brings the American landscape back into the public eye by showcasing its amazing diversity still today. Richard takes great care in showcasing both the forests of the Midwest and the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains with the same care and emphasis to detail. This book will proudly be placed on your coffee table for a very long time and you will find yourself opening it and taking time to page through it often. As Nicholas Day of The Chicago Reader says, “The Lewis and Clark Trail: American Landscapes is a 256-page full-color slab of a book. It’s a rapturous representation of the American landscape, seen both in grand wide-angle vistas and in the surfaces of wildflowers and water. It’s a book that John Muir would’ve liked.”
The power and beauty of this book is born out in the multiple awards it has won in the 18 months since its publication: a Silver Medal for Best Nature Book from the International Photography Awards, multiple awards for printing and design, and two Silver Medals from the Benjamin Franklin Book Awards for Best Coffee Table Book and Best Nature Book. One viewing is all it takes to see why The Lewis & Clark Trail American Landscapes has been so critically acclaimed.
Quiet Light Publishing also offers a Limited Edition of The Lewis & Clark Trail American Landscapes in a leather slipcase along with three fine art limited edition prints from the book. While this book is aimed at the true lover of photographic books, with an edition of only 200 copies, a limited edition book with three fine art prints makes the perfect gift for that special person. For further information see their website for details.
For those interested in the Lewis & Clark Expedition specifically and American history in general, this book is an invaluable supplement to the narrative works in their collection. For those who are simply awestruck by the splendor of nature or the power of photography, this once-in-a-lifetime collection of images will be a treasured addition to their library.
About Richard Mack
Richard Mack, a commercial photographer based near Chicago, has shot assignments in all 50 states and many countries around the world. His bold and striking style comes from his longtime passion for landscape photography. Richard’s portfolio includes works in both color and black & white from many National Parks, National Forests, and wilderness areas. His work has been exhibited widely in galleries throughout the United States and is included in many corporate art collections. He also lectures on the making of The Lewis & Clark Trail American Landscapes, the trail and photography. He has lectured at such places as The Newberry Library as part of their lecture series.
Richard lives in Evanston, Illinois.
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Editions
Hardcover: $65.00
A Limited Edition version of the book is offered and will be limited to 200 copies in honor of the 200th anniversary of the Lewis & Clark Expedition. It is presented in a leather slipcase and includes three fine art prints from the book, each one representing a different year the expedition spent on the trail. Each book and print is signed and numbered by edition. This book is only available through Quiet Light Publishing and specific galleries.
Limited Edition Current Price: $500.00
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