Gr and Canyon
Subtitle: a century of change : rephotography of the 1889-1890 Stanton Expedition
By: Robert H. Webb.
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Published: 1996
Place of publication: Tucson
Language: eng
Number of pages: 290
Subjects: Stanton, Robert Brewster, 1846-1922; Repeat photography -- Arizona -- Grand Canyon; Landscape changes -- Arizona -- Grand Canyon; Repeat photography -- Colorado River (Colo.-Mexico); Landscape changes -- Colorado River (Colo.-Mexico); Grand Canyon (Ariz.) -- Description and travel; Grand Canyon (Ariz.) -- Surveys; Colorado River (Colo.-Mexico) -- Description and travel; Colorado River (Colo.-Mexico) -- Surveys
Description: Photographs made in Grand Canyon a century ago may provide us with a sense of history; photographs made today from the same vantage points give us a more precise picture of change in this seemingly timeless place.

Between 1889 and 1890, Robert Brewster Stanton made photographs every one to two miles through the river corridor for the purpose of planning a water-level railroad route; he produced the largest collection of photographs of the Colorado River at one point in time.

Robert Webb, a USGS hydrologist conducting research on debris flows in the Canyon, obtained the photographs, and from 1989 to 1995, he replicated all 445 of the views captured by Stanton, matching as closely as possible the original camera positions and lighting conditions.

Grand Canyon, a Century of Change assembles the most dramatic of these paired photographs to demonstrate both the persistence of nature and the presence of humanity. The level of detail obtained from the photographs represent one of the most extensive long-term monitoring efforts ever conducted in a national park and the most detailed documentation effort ever performed using repeat photography.

Much more than simply a picture book, Grand Canyon, a Century of Change is an environmental history of the river corridor, a fascinating book that clearly shows the impact of human influence on Grand Canyon and warns us that the Canyon's future is very much in our hands.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: The Denver, Colorado Canyon and Pacific Railroad; title: The science and art of repeat photography; title: The Century Club; title: Herbivory; title: The disaster of frost; title: Floods, dams, and riparian vegetation; title: Streams of mud and rock; title: Crystal and lava; title: Water running over boulders; title: Sand bars and Glen Canyon Dam; title: Stasis and change.