Product Description

Vermont is generally thought of as quintessentially old New England: small villages with white clapboard houses and tall church spires; family farms with red barns and grazing cows; and verdant fields lined with maple and white birch trees.

But there's another Vermont - virtually unknown to many - that is composed of untamed wilderness with an extraordinary variety of landscape, soils, trees, and wildflowers, in a variety perhaps unmatched in any other small region. These wild areas are among the state's most beautiful and photogenic. Some are protected permanently, but many are not. Some are difficult to reach, even on foot; others are just a short stroll from a town or roadside.

A. Blake Gardner has been trekking to wild areas throughout Vermont for more than a decade, and he photographs them, carefully and lovingly, with his large-format camera. To supplement Gardner's exquisite portraits, Tom Wessels writes about how these wild areas came to be. He looks at the state's geology, its natural history, and its culture. And he scrutinizes the threats to that diversity and discusses its preservation and stewardship.

Untamed Vermont serves as a pictorial reminder of the natural and fragile beauty of the wild areas within the Green Mountains, and how vital to our well-being the preservation of that wildness is.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1367458 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 120 pages

About the Author
A. BLAKE GARDNER is an award-winning photographer from Westminster, Vermont, who specializes in nature photography. His work has appeared in Architectural Digest, Country Journal, National Parks, Sierra, Vermont Life, and Yankee magazines, among others. He is the author and/or photographer of several books. Among them are: Vermont Wilds (1991), The Berkshires (1997), How to Landscape Design (1997), Country Wild (1998), and The Red Lion Inn Cookbook (2000).

TOM WESSELS is an ecologist, teacher, and writer who directs the environmental biology program at Antioch New England Graduate School. He is the author of Reading the Forested Landscape (1997) and The Granite Landscape (2001).

Customer Reviews

Exellent Book
I'm really impressed by Blake Gardner's new book Untamed Vermont for several reasons. First and foremost, Blake's photos of the Green Mountain State are outstanding. With his large format camera, he captures both grand scenic and intimate landscapes of Vermont's forests, mountains and lakes - everything from fiddleheads pushing themselves up through the oak leaves of a recently thawed ground to the sweeping vista of the Mountain State from atop Camel's Hump which adorns the cover of this book.

The second reason I like this book is that the photos are accompanied by some excellent text. Senator Patrick Leahy himself, whom has been a US Senator from Vermont since 1974, writes the Foreword. He not only takes this opportunity to boast of Vermont's "inspiring colored leaves in autumn, the rivers and lakes that dot the countryside, and the countless hiking trails that weave up and around the Green Mountains." He also takes this opportunity to tell of the importance of protecting Vermont's wilderness areas. "It is important to preserve Vermont's Wilderness for our enjoyment and that of generations to come," he writes. "Vermont's first-rate quality of life is partly due to the accessibility of open lands, mountains, lakes, and rivers. Being surrounded by nature offers a time for solitude and reflection, recreation and quality moments with loved ones." I can't agree more.

Most of the book's text is written by Tom Wessels. Tom is an ecologist, writer, and founding director of the Conservation Biology Program at Antioch New England Graduate School. Of course Tom's going to get points because Antioch is my wife's alma matter, but he also has written a beautiful narrative text which manages to add an additional layer of satisfaction to this great nature photography coffee-table book. The book is full of interesting facts about the Green Mountain State and it's ecology.

An Appreciation
After gazing at the stunning vistas of nature transposed by Blake Gardner,I realized what a meditation these photos became for me. I was immersed in the depths of colors,shapes ,forms and the sensation of being there,standing next to this inspired artist,silent in the wonderment of the beauty and ancient stillnes that has been captured.
Every photograph is a unique tribute to Vermont,our earth and the talent of one who sees.

Stunning vision of Vermont
I have been visiting Vermont since the late 60s -- and every arrival is a fresh falling in love with its landscapes. Blake Gardner's new book, "Untamed Vermont," is an extraordinarily powerful evocation of the place at its best. It roams around and finds both the grand vistas and the quiet, small miraculous patches. Gardner's compositions are stunning. One of my favorites is a photo of wild grapes in the Big Branch Wilderness that has the serene lushness of a painted still life. Another one in the same woods: a portrait of a warbler's ground nest, half-hidden by ferns and browned leaves. He captures a forest coated with rime ice in the Camel's Hump area -- a wildly intricate, hypnotic vision. Though it's obvious that Gardner has hiked and climbed to some pretty remote spots to make these photographs, he also shows places that anyone can visit. If you're addicted to Vermont -- or wild lands anywhere -- you'll want to own this book.