Is Greater Than

Human/Nature

by Scott MacDonald | 09 Sep 2010

Yosemite Valley is the classic American photographic destination.

Its iconic landmarks are synonymous with “grandeur” in our collective psyche.

I recently visited on a summer Saturday. My previous trips, early spring and late fall, revealed an uncrowded landscape that easily surrendered its grand views.

On the last Saturday in July 2010, however, the grandeur was, in most cases quite literally, crawling with people.

This photo essay is my reflection on how people interact with and affect the wild natural places that we all so long to see.

Scott MacDonald is a photographer on the Central Coast of California. He works on staff at a daily newspaper, The Salinas Californian, and lives in San Jose. His first photos were poorly exposed black and whites of punk rock bands in Pennsylvania, the state and scene from which he hails. Although old enough to be legitimately concerned about admitting his age, he still rides a skateboard, plays drums loudly and daydreams about the next issue of his zine, which he hasn't produced since 1996. Online: scottmacdonaldphotography.com
- Tweet
- Tags:
- photo essay
96172 CommentsHuman%2FNature2010-09-09+13%3A50%3A31Scott+MacDonald
- PhloxNewIssue
  
  There have been several places (the Louvre around the Mona Lisa, The Forbidden City in Beijing come to mind) where I have struggled to get photos "unpolluted" by the masses of fellow camera toting tourists…eventually it hit me; I was missing the more interesting subject matter – which was the massive crowd itself. Great work and amazing byline…
  
  10 Sep 2010 08:09 am
  Reply
- Lynette D'Amico
  
  Yosemite is on my list of places to visit–I might have to adjust my expectations for a wilderness experience. Really compelling photos.
  
  15 Sep 2010 08:09 am
  Reply
Leave a Comment

Posting your comment...

Subscribe to these comments via email
- 2007-2011
  
  After four years, Is Greater Than has ceased publishing. Thank you for reading and your support over the years.
  
  View the full archives, or browse by month, category or search below. View a full list of our contributors with links to their archive pages on the about page.
  
  Keep up with publisher Paul M. Davis on his personal site and his blog.
- Search
- Archives by Category
- Archives by Month
- COLUMNS
  - Art Can't Hurt You by Laura M. Browning
  - Moony Habitations by Leilani Clark
  - The Scheme of Spaces by Lynette D'Amico
  - A Fine Line by Cat Johnson
  - Records By Their Covers by Levi Fuller
  - Simplicities by Janina Larenas
  - Pressing Issues by Laura Pearson
  - 42 Frames by R. John Xerxes
  - Last Evenings on Earth by Michael Zapata