Book Review: Treasured Lands by QT Luong

Treasured Lands – A Photographic Odyssey through America’s National Parks

by QT Luong. – Forward by Dayton Duncan
A book review by Gary Crabbe  (First published on the NANPA blog.)

It’s fair to assume that most of us have a bookshelf or two filled with titles that have become personal favorites we’ve collected over time. For many of us, some of those prized titles take the form of large, coffee table-format books. The coffee table designation itself implies a place of highest honor in the home where a book can be seen, picked up, and enjoyed by any visitor. For lovers of the American landscape and photography alike, no book deserves the hallmark designation of this treasured location as Treasured Lands by QT Luong.

As the first photographer to document all 59 of America’s National Parks using a large format camera system, this book — the culmination of a 20-year photographic project — is truly a magnum opus worthy of the word, “Treasure.”

As expansive as a vision of the American we, trying to cover the grandeur of all 59 National Parks in a single book is no small task to be sure, and the result is, as to be expected, no small book. Containing over 450 pages, nearly 570 photos, and text describing each Park as well as the photos themselves, this book will certainly impress in both size and scope.

I should probably mention at that this point that I’ve known QT for many years through numerous photography forums and have met and had the pleasure of seeing him speak on several occasions. His personality is that of someone who is very quiet, humble, and unassuming. Yet the fact one might describe him as meek and shy lies in absolute stark contrast to the physical strength at which he is able — through his background in mountaineering and climbing — to carry incredibly heavyweight packs filled with camera and camping gear into some of the coldest, harshest, or wettest environments that America has to offer. The softness at which he speaks in person is completely offset by the power and clarity of his photography and its ability to communicate a sense of wildness, beauty, and grandeur to those who view his work. I was absolutely delighted and honored when he called and ask me to assist him on this project due to my own background as both a photographer and photo editor. I worked with him over the course of several days reviewing nearly 10,000 images to help cull down a set of candidate images that would speak experientially to the heart of what each National Park has to offer a visitor.

As mentioned, covering all 59 of America’s National Parks is no small feat, and as such, there is no way a book like Treasure Lands could serve as any sort of comprehensive guidebook; it is absolutely not meant to be that. Rather, it is more like a silver-platter sampling tray that shows off and whets the appetite to some of the best and unique attributes of each National Park, but by doing so in a precise, comprehensive, yet minimalistic way. It is the photography that lies at the forefront to highlight each location, with just enough text to give the reader valuable insight to each park, and what went into the making of each image.

The book is laid out geographically covering each National Park by region, starting with the Pacific Coast, then moving across the Colorado Plateau, through the Rocky Mountains to the East Coast, and then concluding with Alaska and the Tropics. The reader is first led into this grand project through a short introduction and a forward written by Dayton Duncan, one of the co-producers of Ken Burns’ acclaimed documentary, The National Parks America’s Best Idea. In fact, QT was one of the people interviewed for this documentary series, with his stunning photograph of a sunset over Yosemite Valley was featured as the cover illustration for the series and featured on every National Park website.

Each national park opens with a short bit of introductory text followed by a beautiful set of photographic plates in a visual tribute of the highest caliber. He then goes on to provide a summary of each Park along with a geographical description and a few interesting statistics relative to each location.

One of the things that I like best is that the photographs are presented uncaptioned so that their place on the page is maximized for visual impact. In closing out the section for each National Park, QT then adds a numbered thumbnail copy of each image which includes both a geographical caption and extended description relative to the making of the photo — every so often adding some tidbits of information that will help fellow photographers who are planning on visiting the park.

Also beneficial to visitors (and photographers, especially) is a small Illustrated map with highlighted numbers matching one of the thumbnail photos so that readers can instantly identify at which area within the park each image was taken.

QT writes in his own introduction that his primary hope was the book would inspire visitors to both go out and discover new places, but to also provide enough information so that if you chose to, you could actually find your way to the place where each photograph was taken. To that end, I think his goal of providing a glowing tablet of inspiration — thereby creating an urge to personally experience the wonders for each of these locations — is resounding in success.

This multiple award-winning book is produced of the highest printing quality both in terms of cover, the feel of the paper, and the quality of photographic reproduction is excellent.

I have no doubt that for folks like myself — who are as fond of the American landscape, photography, and the cultural and natural places that the National Park Service was established to preserve and protect for the enjoyment of future generations — will surely treasure this book of Treasured Lands as an absolutely prized addition to their collection.

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Gary Crabbe is an award-winning commercial and editorial outdoor travel photographer and author based out of the San Francisco Bay Area, California. He has seven published books on California to his credit, including “Photographing California; v1-North”, which won the prestigious 2013 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Gold Medal award as Best Regional title. His client and publication credits include the National Geographic Society, the New York Times, Forbes Magazine, TIME, The North Face, Subaru, L.L. Bean, Victoria’s Secret, Sunset Magazine, The Nature Conservancy, and many more. Gary is also a photography instructor and consultant, offering both public and private photo workshops. He also works occasionally as a professional freelance Photo Editor.

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