River Rock Lodge,
3080 Pine Drive,
Big Sky, MT 59716
Bill Wyckoff, professor of historical geography at MSU, will present his rephotography project of Montana, which was published as a book in 2006. The study explores how images of visual transformation and continuity help us better understand the meaning of landscape change across Montana, the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), and the larger American West.
Dr. Wyckoff used historic photographs taken by Montana highway engineers and surveyors between 1920 and 1940 to analyze the changing roadside landscapes in rural and urban portions of Montana. Five lessons are summarized through the comparative photographs. First, nature matters, both in the shaping of the landscape itself and in the meanings we give to landscape. Second, landscape change often illustrates processes of “punctuated equilibrium” in which long periods of little change are followed by episodes of rapid transformation. Third, a lack of visual landscape change should not mask the reality of shifting landscape meanings and their evolving role in shaping place identities, especially in the West. Fourth, these roadside landscapes are often sensitive indicators of economic changes and these have left a lasting legacy across Montana and the GYE. Finally, landscapes cannot be separated from their keepers. Montana places are often best understood by those who live in their midst. Thus, we need to see and appreciate the insider’s view of landscape and the lessons it can offer.
William Wyckoff, Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717. Email: bwyckoff@montana.edu Rephotographing Montana: Exploring a Western American Landscape
