After shooting Zion about 5-6 times and going through the area and peering through the windows of master photographer Michael Fatali's "Sacred Earth" gallery a bunch of times, I finally came through the area the day before yesterday (after shooting Toroweap) to meet him. But this time, as I walked in, I was really struck by his work and magnificent MASTER PRINTS! I have been able to see many world famous landscape photographers galleries and scrutinize their prints, like Ken Duncan, Christopher Burkett, Peter Lik, and so on... but after hours of pouring over Michaels work very carefully I would say that, to my knowledge, he may be making the highest quality master landscape prints in the world! There is a reason he had the cover of the book "The Worlds Top Photographers - Landscape." Sure, he admitantly has made some mistakes along the way, as we all have, but I just can not ignore the awesome beauty of his work!
So if you have not been to Zion Utah, or to Michael Fatali's beautiful gallery right as you come into the park (he also has one in Sedona, AZ) please think seriously about doing so! You will come away mesmerized by the awesomeness of creation, and will be filled to overflowing with inspiration to fuel your own great shooting!
BTW, Michael shoots 8x10 film, and masterfully hand prints his images one at a time with insane meticulousness.
Also, he is also a very nice approachable guy.
Edited by mark70x70 on Mar 24, 2008 at 05:44 PM GMT
... If you do, you might realize just how much your own photography sucks
Just kidding, of course. Absolutely stunning photography, and printing mastery.
Last time I was there talking to him, he just had bought the last supplies of discontinued Ilfochrome (Cibachrome) paper and chemicals. Not sure what he is using for printing these days.
I was amazed at Fatali's images for the longest time and I was in awe of his prints when I was in the Zion gallery. Then I learned that he has de-faced several national parks and that his so called, "god-light" was merely kids burning socks and moving around the shoot and/or setting up fires around his photo shoots... I wasn't as impressed.
Most landscape pro's that I have ran into have only horror stories about the guy....
anonymous66 wrote:
I was amazed at Fatali's images for the longest time and I was in awe of his prints when I was in the Zion gallery. Then I learned that he has de-faced several national parks and that his so called, "god-light" was merely kids burning socks and moving around the shoot and/or setting up fires around his photo shoots... I wasn't as impressed.
Most landscape pro's that I have ran into have only horror stories about the guy....
Ok... the guy did a careless and stupid thing ten years ago... he fully admitted, apologized and paid the price (two-year probation, $11K restitution, and 150 hours of community service). Unfortunately, it seems that episode is going to follow him for the rest of his (photographic) life, overshadowing his outstanding photography mostly among those who have never seen his work.
slobodan wrote:
Ok... the guy did a careless and stupid thing ten years ago... he fully admitted, apologized and paid the price (two-year probation, $11K restitution, and 150 hours of community service). Unfortunately, it seems that episode is going to follow him for the rest of his (photographic) life, overshadowing his outstanding photography mostly among those who have never seen his work.
If we used the same standard to judge ourselves as we are judging Fatali, we might as well just go out shoot ourselves and get it over with...
I admit that whole episode still is a bit queezy in my stomach, but seriously unless we are going to judge ourselves in every area of our own lives with the same unforgiving attitude, we need to let up on the guy.
While I would hope I would never do anything that stupid, I have definately done a few stupid things in my own life...
JimFox wrote:
If we used the same standard to judge ourselves as we are judging Fatali, we might as well just go out shoot ourselves and get it over with...
I admit that whole episode still is a bit queezy in my stomach, but seriously unless we are going to judge ourselves in every area of our own lives with the same unforgiving attitude, we need to let up on the guy.
While I would hope I would never do anything that stupid, I have definately done a few stupid things in my own life...
Yeah I think his photos are amazing but of all the stupid things I've done nothing even begins to come close to lighting chemical fires under a world treasure. He might as well have taken a chisel and put his initials in it. The scar will likely last about as long. Jim, I will have to respectfully disagree with you on this one. I think most of us can stand the same kind of scrutiny because we've never done anything even close to that.
Personally I'm struggling to come up with anything more than making a new fire ring in Yosemite and scorching a chunk of granite that had never been scorched and some clambering through the Artist's Palette in Death Valley that caused some footprint erosion in the steep soft soil (entry to the area is not prohibited, at least not when that happened twelve years ago). But as much as I want to I am going to resist carrying a few gallons of red paint out to the edge of El Cap and slowly pouring it down the side. (sarcasm alert)
Respectfully I would also like to comment on his punishment. Probation means you have to keep your nose clean. How many run ins with the law do you have in a typical two year period? So this is an easy one for a normal citizen. $11,000 is what it cost to prosecute him and for the clean up. Actually I think it cost more and I know that the clean up wasn't effective. 150 hours community service is something but keep in mind that he must have professional access to our Parks in order to continue creating the photos for which he makes his living. So all this was just a small cost of business for him. Remember that he was actively engaged in a business activity in the park for which those fires were meant to increase his income.
Personally I think, at a minimum, you should get your union card yanked for that kind of stunt. (no future professional photography permits)
JimFox wrote:
If we used the same standard to judge ourselves as we are judging Fatali, we might as well just go out shoot ourselves and get it over with...
I admit that whole episode still is a bit queezy in my stomach, but seriously unless we are going to judge ourselves in every area of our own lives with the same unforgiving attitude, we need to let up on the guy.
While I would hope I would never do anything that stupid, I have definately done a few stupid things in my own life...
Jim
Amen!
I'm glad you posted this JIM, because I had the feeling some people would not be able to get past his mistakes, and then totally discount his awesome work.
I have never seen one of Fatali's prints but his work that I have seen on the internet is absolutely fantastic. The problem is for me that famous artists are very privileged in their position and therefore are judged by higher standards. As a person I am sure it is forgivable, but personally for me, as someone who should be in love with the natural world (as I am sure he is) what he did was totally horrendous. I will continue to appreciate his work, but I could never hold him in such high regard as he would have otherwise warranted
JimFox wrote:
If we used the same standard to judge ourselves as we are judging Fatali, we might as well just go out shoot ourselves and get it over with...
I admit that whole episode still is a bit queezy in my stomach, but seriously unless we are going to judge ourselves in every area of our own lives with the same unforgiving attitude, we need to let up on the guy.
While I would hope I would never do anything that stupid, I have definately done a few stupid things in my own life...
Jim
I've gotta disagree too Jim. Its not like this was an accident, nor was it a stupid, spontaneous action.
He didn't get there, see some logs lying around and say, 'Hey! It would be cool to have some smoke here!' He actually planned it, went out and bought the supplies, and carried it through. To me, that speaks a lot to someone's character and indicates much more than just a mistake or error in judgment.
How many instances between the time he dreamed up the idea and carried it out do you think he had the opportunity to think to himself, 'Wait, maybe this isn't such a great thing to do.' I would imagine at least a few days worth.
Additionally, the guy's a liar/embellisher (if liar is too strong a word for you). His descriptions of some of his shots are laughable. Peter Lik (as well as many others) does the same thing and it pisses me off. I don't know why these guys don't feel like they can be honest about their spectacular shots (well, other than the Delicate Arch incident ).
Yeah, I've got to agree with some of the others here. His work is fantastic, but I can't get past the whole Delicate Arch issue. I would imagine if I did something that stupid I'd be pretty well ostracized by my photography peers, and would honestly deserve it. The general public is a different matter as most probably don't even know about it.
As for AJ's comment about Peter Lik, what claims has he made? I saw his work for the first time earlier this month and it is no doubt incredible. I did get a laugh out of some of the sales tactics of his gallery employees, but that was more from my standpoint of being in sales and not as a photographer.
I'll put it a bit more bluntly, (I'm sure your all surprised!!).
If you found out that a famous baby photographer (like the caliber of Ann Geddes) was a child molester, would you let it go? Should they still be able to photograph babies? Should it be forgiven and forgotten?
Fatali raped & molested some of the most protected land.
This push about how great he is a blatant attempt to help smooth over his rep for Mark's photo workshops!!!!!!!!!!
I have been there (Fatali Gallery in Springdale). He is a good photographer, but some would say over the line on saturation...
Concerning his ethics well shall we say he is no Ansel Adams. Not even in the same class. Ansel spent his life raising people's awareness of our fragile nature areas, was a founding member of the Sierra Club and consulted many presidents on protecting our environment. He drove the creation of Kings Canyon National Park.
Fatali has done no such thing, instead he has exploited our natural areas and in one case damaged it. Even though he was only caught once, the odds are this wasn't the only case. In his gallery he has a letter from President Bill Clinton thanking him for the image he donated to him. As I read that I thought what Ansel (My photography hero) would have said...
I am firm believer in the concept those without sin cast the first stone, but I must ask - what has Fatali given back to our environment?
mark70x70 wrote:
There is a reason he had the cover of the book "The world best photographers - Landscape."
googling that title doesn't come up with a book by that name. It does come up with
"The World's Top Photographers (and the stories behind their greatest images) Landscape" by Terry Hope
My 2005 copy has Michael Frye's "What Saguaros Do While We Are Sleeping" on the cover.
Quick question, I saw the gallery and was amazed, but also noted the very high saturation. He makes a big point about no editing, blah blah blah. So how do you do this with film? I knew you could dodge and burn but could you affect other things as well? I started in digital, so forgive the ignorance.
As far as the destroying public lands, it does suck that a mistake can follow you so long, but maybe that is a good thing to think about before-hand. I agree with ajkessler. This was something premeditated and from the articles, he was doing a demonstration. If we are under public eye we should be ever more careful of our actions. I hope every landscape photogrpaher is concerned with the environment, after all it is their subject. Shouldn't we then take any chance we get to show we care about it? I was very impressed with his images, but there are so many other great photographers out there that are actually giving back and really show how much they care for the environment, that he no longer warrants my time or praise.
