Those of you who regularly read my meanderings have noted, hopefully, my interest in posing my motorcycles in spots where I've found scenery/structures still existing that were photographed in decades past.
Being a history major, I figured that's what came as part of my makeup.
Turns out though, that another guy had similar thoughts and goals! A Mr John Fielder who has followed in the photographical footsteps of William Henry Jackon. Mr Jackson shot many famous shots which made it into the archives of the Denver Public Library; it is mainly this archive that I've drawn from for my "then" shots that I've published so far in this blog.
Mr Fielder published his photos replicating shots made by Mr Jackson back in the late 1800s in a book called: "Colorado 1870-2000". This work was published by Westcliffepublishers.com in partnership with The Colorado Historical Society back in 1999.
John Fielder was commissioned to photograph, in the space of one year, 300 locations replicating selected photographs produced by William H. Jackson between 1870 and 1908.
I discovered all the above when my loving wife, after having seen the "then and now" postings, found the books "Colorado: 1870-2000 II", a sequel to the first book and "Colorado: 1870-2000 Revisited" where the author documents how he got the photos he did!
What a wealth of information these two books are, I must also find the first book of course! Reading these books have given me many leads to more locations all over Colorado for future blog postings. I doubt I'll be able to do as thorough a job as John Fielder since some of the photo-taking locations involved hiking up terrain inaccessible to my motorcycles; still I will come as close as I can to the "then" shots. The "revisited" version will become my bible as it encompasses small pictures of all the photos in the first two books along with information on how he got to the spots!
On the one hand, it was kind of a letdown to see someone else had already blazed this particular trail; but his work will make my explorations that much easier so for that I am grateful.
Here's a link to John Fielder's website: LINK
From the second book's intro: John Fielder is a national renowned nature photographer, publisher, teacher and preservationist. He is the photographer of 36 books, most about Colorado. Fielder has worked tirelessly to promot the protection of Colorado's open space and wildlands. His photography has influenced people and legislation, earning him awards from my conservation groups, including the Sierra Club's Ansel Adams Award.
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