“We are now in the mountains and they are in us, kindling enthusiasm, making every nerve quiver, filling every pore and cell of us. Our flesh-and-bone tabernacle seems transparent as glass to the beauty about us . . .”
John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierras (1911)
Today I make reference to a writer, a photographer, a painter, and a videographer. Each of the individuals I will mention used a different medium to communicate significant and personal events they experienced. Although varied in the manner in which their communiqué reaches its recipients, their purposes remain the same: to share a piece of themselves in a way that imparts equal or greater value from what they originally experienced.
Each artist’s message remains unique, filtered by his personality; a personality molded by genetics, culture, upbringing, and accumulated experiences. Each artist presented excelled in his communication style, in the medium he chose to express himself, and in the way in which the passion toward his experience overflowed from his work, spilling abundantly to impact the beneficiaries of that work.
To start, John Muir, known for his detailed observations on the plant and animal life of the natural world, demonstrated gracious enthusiasm in his writings. Each excursion into what he called the “wild” exhilarated him.
Donald Worster, a Muir biographer, recounted one incident in which Muir ran out of food during a multi-day outing in the foothills of Southern California. Muir said that the lack of food added to his adventure, making him all the more “fresher and clearer for the fast.”
Worster describes Muir as wanting to share such moments of “regeneration . . . to everyone on earth, and characteristically generous of spirit, he became a trusting child of nature and a prophet of hope for humanity.” He adds that “the intensity of [Muir’s] feelings made him one of the most celebrated persons of his day.”
Muir’s writings reveal a transparent and reverent vulnerability to the natural world and its vast potential to keep instructing him, to keep inspiring him, and to keep challenging his spirit and the spirit of those who joined him there. He never wavered from this joyful outlook, even recognizing in later years, that “as age comes on, one source of enjoyment after another is closed, but nature's sources never fail.”
Muir died in Los Angeles, California on December 24, 1914 from pneumonia. He was 76 years old.
Next, I refer to the well-known photographer, Ansel Adams. Adams first came to Yosemite in 1916 as a 14-year-old. A summary of the life-changing impact of his observations during that initial trip comes from his own words: "That first impression of the Valley--white water, azaleas, cool fir caverns, tall pines and stolid oaks, cliffs rising to undreamed-of heights, the poignant sounds and smells of the Sierra . . . was a culmination of experience so intense as to be almost painful. From that day in 1916, my life has been colored and modulated by the great earth gesture of the Sierra." -- Adams, Ansel; Alinder, Mary Street (1985). Ansel Adams, an Autobiography. Boston: Little, Brown
During that time, his father provided him with a Kodak Brownie box camera and he enthusiastically recorded his first photograph with a transparent joy that his father encouraged. He returned from that trip determined to learn how to become a photographer.
Adams’ photos came to represent his love of nature, and, like Muir, his ardent view of the importance of the conservation movement. Unlike Muir, however, it was Adams’ photos that did his writing for him. His black and white photographs of Yosemite capture the observer’s attention and urges him/her to feel what Adams felt by being immersed in the striking presentation of the complexities of the Park’s grandness. His interpretation of how light and shadows danced alongside one another created poetic verse for one's eyes. He highlighted the beat and rhythm of shape and form and dramatized for all to see the “great earth gesture” of the Yosemite.
Ansel Adams died from cardiovascular disease on April 22, 1984 at 82 years of age. His contributions to the field of photography are broad and lasting. His work spans continents and the Ansel Adams Gallery sits prominently in Yosemite Valley. His life-long love of Yosemite reveals itself in each verse of his many photos, a clear window, transparent as glass, to what moved him.
Now to a painter. Albert Bierstadt, a German-American painter, was born in Prussia on January 7, 1830. His family immigrated to the United States when he was one year old. Early on he demonstrated a love of drawing and even returned to Germany in 1853 to study for four years.
He came to capture the essence of the expansion into the western frontier of the United States in the 19th century with his much sought-after depictions of the Rocky Mountains and other destinations such as Yosemite. Often criticized for his large paintings as “arrogant indulgence”, critics failed to see the import of his subject matter. It was less about Bierstadt and more about the immensity of feeling gained by being present amidst the landscapes Bierstadt used for his paintings.
His presence within his paintings invited the viewer of his art to be present there as well, to join him in the immensity of the moment, the dreamy skies and the rugged mountains he depicted.
Unbelievably, his work came into disfavor during the 20th century. He died on February 18, 1902, largely forgotten at the age of 72. More recently, his works enjoyed renewed interest. Regardless, his energy and technical expertise exposed his inner self and welcomed others to experience what he saw.
Finally, I end with a brief account of a videographer. His name is Paul Vasquez. Many now call him "The Rainbow Guy" although he referred to himself as "Yosemite Bear."
For many years he lived in the hills below Yosemite National Park and the Park came to be his favorite place to visit and to provide video narration. If asked what videographer is most well-known for capturing the essence of Yosemite, many might respond by saying "Ken Burns" for the 12-hour documentary called The National Parks: America’s Best Idea.
However, for many others, Yosemite Bear’s inspiring You Tube videos rank as high. His You Tube post of the “Double Rainbow” has garnered over 48 million views (see below). Many say they cannot think of a rainbow without thinking of Yosemite Bear. In the video, he shares an accumulation of everything Muir, Adams, and Bierstadt communicated in their artistic expressions.
Yosemite Bear’s expressions live, and reveal, not only reveal his love for the natural wonders of the world, but demonstrate how ‘every nerve of his quivers, filling every pore and cell with happy reverence.’ His flesh-and-bone tabernacle seems as transparent as glass to all who watch his memorable encounter with a double rainbow.
Yosemite Bear died about two months ago, on May 5, 2020 at the age of 57, reportedly from a heart attack. Unlike Bierstadt, however, the "Rainbow Guy" did not die in relative obscurity. His death made mention in more online newspapers than can be counted. Please watch his video below to see his true self as transparent as glass.
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