Visions Underground: Carlsbad Caverns through the Artist's
Eye
Is
now available as a full-color book! Order it from
the National Speleological Society
here!
2009
NEW MEXICO BOOK AWARDS
GRAND PRIZE WINNER!
• Best Art Book
•
Top Book of 2009
WINNER,
SOUTHWEST BOOK AWARD
NOTABLE BOOK, TUCSON-PIMA LIBRARY ASSN.
Visions Underground:
Carlsbad Caverns through the Artist’s Eye
by Lois Manno
Published by LPD Press in collaboration with The National
Speleological Society
www.caves.org
What was the most challenging photographic subject of Ansel
Adams’ career? Many would agree that it was Carlsbad
Caverns. At one point during his work at the Caverns, Adams
wrote a letter to friend and fellow photographer Alfred
Stieglitz, asking him to “pray for me.” Did he
succeed or fail? The previously unpublished Adams
images in this book will allow lovers of photographic art
to come to their own conclusions.
Caves inspire awe, curiosity, and fear. Perhaps because
they were used as havens and sacred sites during the
evolution of mankind, caves continue to fascinate us with
their dark promise of adventure. As psychological
archetypes, they touch humanity’s deepest, most
primal emotional core. Since the discovery of Carlsbad
Caverns in the late 1800s, adventurers, photographers,
writers, and artists have explored its depths, seeking to
capture the elusive beauty that fills its enormous chambers
and intimate grottos.
Visions Underground weaves together the work of
historic and contemporary artists from various disciplines
to create a portrait of Carlsbad Caverns National Park as
inspiration and muse. This book explores the integral part
the arts have played in the development and preservation of
the national parks generally, and Carlsbad in particular.
The book follows the tracks left by creative people as they
encountered the cave, beginning with the courageous
artist-explorers of the 1920s like painter Will Shuster,
onward through Ansel Adams’ struggle with
photographing in the inhospitable darkness, to
contemporary, surrealistic photographs of cave pearls, soda
straws, and pristine pools of blue-green water.
In the process of recording the history of artists at the
park, Visions Underground describes a one
hundred-year continuum of how the subterranean world has
been portrayed in various media, from before the turn of
the century, through modern times. Creative people still
flock to Carlsbad Caverns, which was designated a World
Heritage Site in 1995. The cast of characters is as diverse
as American culture itself.
With over 140 images, many of which have never before been
published, Visions Underground tells the story of
how Carlsbad Caverns has inspired artists since the early
days of the twentieth century. It also documents the
history of cave exploration at the park and the evolution
of photography. Every cave enthusiast, photographer, and
art lover will enjoy reading this unique book.
Lois Manno has been a caver for thirty years. She is a fine
artist and graphic designer who has volunteered at Carlsbad
Caverns National Park for more than fifteen years. She
lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
ISBN 978-1-890689-95-7
8” x 10”softcover $19.99
192 pages 142 illustrations
Cover art courtesy of Alexander Dux and Ranger Doug
Enterprises
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
A New Definition of Cave Art
Foreword
Chapter One: The Artist-Explorers
Chapter Two: The Intrepid Photographers, 1900-1930
Chapter Three: The Evolving Spectacle
Chapter Four: A Struggle In The Dark: Ansel Adams
Chapter Five: Portrait of a National Park
Chapter Six: Finding A Place in the Mainstream
Chapter Seven: The Photographic Legacy Continues
Chapter Eight: Today’s Speleoartists
Afterword
Endnotes
Index
Rio Grande Books
505.344-9382
info@nmsantos.com www.nmsantos.com