Photographer's Statement

In 1963, the Sierra Club published The Place No One Knew, a book of Eliot Porter’s photographs of Glen Canyon on the Colorado River, which indicted our society for foolishly damming and flooding one of the most beautiful places on earth. Porter’s images were my first revelation in color landscape photography; looking at them, I wanted my camera, like his, to make a plea for wild areas.

When Porter called his images “intimate landscapes,” I thought he was referring to their emphasis on foreground (sometimes to the exclusion of any background at all). Over time, I have come to see additional meanings for the phrase, including deep knowledge and love. An artist who knows and loves his or her subject can perhaps come closer to doing it justice.

Larry N. Olson, photographer

Originally a native of Minnesota, I moved to Oregon to attend Lewis & Clark College. While earning a degree in biology, I took a black-and-white photography workshop at the Malheur Environmental Field Station in southeastern Oregon. I fell in love with photographing nature, which for me combined two strong interests. After graduating in 1973, I was drawn to the independent lifestyle of a professional artist. Searching for pristine landscapes, I spent time in the wilderness skiing, backpacking and kayaking, and making photographs all the while. For forty years, I have traveled throughout the West and exhibited my prints in numerous museums and galleries.

Larry N. Olson, Oregon Rivers Book

In 1988, motivated by Oregon’s landmark river legislation, I began making photographs for a book to celebrate our rivers. Oregon Rivers, which joins my photographs of the rivers in Oregon’s wild and scenic river system with essays by John Daniel, was published in 1997. Making these photographs provided me the opportunity for a long-term immersion in intimate landscapes. I made repeated visits to all of the fifty-six designated wild and scenic rivers in Oregon, hiking along (and often in) the rivers, roaming up and down the canyons and drainages surrounding them, and seeking to capture on film the contours and facets of landscape that make up a river system. I also kayaked and canoed many of the rivers in order to visit remote sections.

Lewis and Clark College

B.S. Degre, Biology, cum laude, 1973

Selected Solo Exhibitions

Sunbird Gallery

Bend, Oregon 2004

Art Source Gallery

Boise, Idaho 2002

Hood River County Museum

Hood River, Oregon 2001

Lava Lands National Monument

Bend, Oregon 2001

High Desert Museum

Bend, Oregon 1999-2001

Astoria Maritime Museum

Astoria, Oregon 1998

Douglas County Museum

Roseburg, Oregon 1998

Oregon Historical Society

Portland, Oregon 1998

LaSalle Stuart Center

Corvallis, Oregon 1998

Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts

Lake Oswego, Oregon 1998

1st Avenue Gallery

Portland, Oregon 1997

Camera Work Gallery

Portland, Oregon, 1994

Coos Art Museum, Coos Bay

Oregon 1992

World Forestry Center

Portland, Oregon, 1989-1991

Museum of Natural History

Santa Barbara, California 1986

Selected Group Exhibitions

Oregon College of Arts and Crafts

Portland Oregon, 2003, 2004, 2006

Sitka Center for the Arts

Portland, Oregon 2001, 2002

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

Washington, D.C. 1991

Nikon House Gallery; Sierra Centennial

New York, New York 1991

Silver Anniversary: Wilderness Act

Portland, Oregon 1989

Foothills Art Center

Golden Colorado, 1988

Josephus Daniels Gallery

Carmel, California, 1988

Oregon State University

Corvallis, Oregon 1986

Portland Art Museum; "Artists of Oregon"

Portland, Oregon 1977

Selected Publications & Reviews

"Alaska Airlines & Horizon Air Magazines",

inside photographs, In-Flight Magazines, 2006

"Rogue River Journal",

cover, John Daniel, Shoemaker & Hoard, 2005

"Oregon Wild- Endangered Forest Wilderness",

cover & inside photographs, Andy Kerr, ONRC, 2004

"Open Spaces Magazine",

1997, 1998

"Oregon's Living Landscape",

cover and inside photographs, Defenders of Wildlife Publication, 1998

"Oregon Rivers",

Hardcover, Photographer & Author, Co-Author John Daniel, 1997

"The Oregonian",

book review and photographs, 1997

"Wilderness Magazine",

cover photograph, 1994

"A View of the River",

Luna B. Leopold, 1994, cover photograph, Harvard University Press

"Wilderness Magazine",

inside photograph, 1993

"Photographer's Forum Magazine",

cover and inside photographs, 1993

"Wilderness Magazine",

back cover photograph, 1992

"Sierra Magazine",

inside photograph, 1991

"Sierra Club Calendar",

1988, 1989

"Audubon Nature Calendar",

1986, 1987

Selected Films

"A.M Northwest"

artist interview and book review, 1997

"Northwest Artist Interview"

featured artist, Portland, Oregon, 1985

"KATV Television: Sunday Morning"

interview with 5 photographers, Portland, Oregon, 1978

Selected Permanent Collections

The Campbell Group

Portland, Oregon

Perkins & Company

Portland, Oregon

Kaiser Permanente

Portland, Oregon

Providence & Legacy Emanuel Hospitals

Portland, Oregon

The Nature Conservancy

Portland, OR

Emanuel Hospital

Portland, OR

Good Samaritan Hospital

Portland, OR

Intel Corporation

Portland, OR

Pew Trust

Portland, OR

Shriners' Hospital

Portland, OR

VA Hospitals

Portland, OR & Vancouver, WA

Vesta Corporation

Portland, OR

Awards

Sierra Magazine Photographic Competition

First Place - "Oregon White Oaks"

Photographer's Forum, National Photographic Competition

- "Oregon Dunes"

Photographer's Forum, National Photographic Competition

- "Owyhee River"

Western Visions, National Photographic Competition

- "Water Lilies" (Foothills Art Center, Golden, Colorado)