cover image The Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon

Letitia Burns O'Connor. Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, $75 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-88363-792-0

In 1871, on his second expedition to the Grand Canyon, American explorer and geologist John Wesley Powell brought along an artist and a photographer. Since that time, visitors have continued to try to capture its visual grandeur on film and canvas, a project realized in this sumptuous volume. One hundred and fifty color and 25 black-and-white images both dazzle and intrigue on this vicarious journey through the canyon. Included are works by Thomas Moran, John Blaustein, John Running and Michael Collier. In a brief essay, O'Connor ( Exploring Cultural Resources in Los Angeles ) gives a historical perspective on the landscape and its artists--naturalists, painters, contemporary photographers. Rena Zurofsky contributes a piece on tourism, past and present, and notes that in 1991 there were 400 search-and-rescue missions for four million visitors. There are time-sequence photographs; all seasons of the year are represented, as are many plants and animals of the region. A grand memento. (Nov.)