About Michael Wickes A native of southeastern Pennsylvania, Michael Wickes grew up among horses. In his early thirties he wrote magazine articles for a living; the need to illustrate his writing led him to pick up a camera and teach himself photography. Discovering that he preferred wandering outside for pictures to the indoor work, he returned to what he knew—documenting horses and the horse-racing culture. Wickes' interests quickly expanded to wildlife (including a decade documenting the natural history of flamingos on five continents), lifestyle, landscape, travel and adventure; his travels have taken him throughout much of the United States as well as Mexico, The Bahamas, Bolivia, France, England, Kenya, and India. His images have been published in American Photographer, Audubon, Men's Health, National Geographic, Outside and The New York Times, as well as on PBS-TV and the book, Thunder of the Mustangs. His images greet the eye, touch the soul, and capture intimate moments that are revealing, essential, and fleeting. As a boy, Wickes was influenced by the images in National Geographic; later he studied the works of the great photographers Paul Strand, Sam Abell, Bill Allard, Ernst Haas, and Elliot Porter. As evidenced by his essays in the book, the storytellers Wallace Stegner, Mark Twain and Charles Kuralt have also inspired him. A resident of Hailey, Idaho, his stock photography is represented by The Image Works and Bruce Coleman. Interview with Michael Wickes 1. Why does a busy photographer decide to do a book on Utah? Oddly enough, the idea for this book was hatched on a New York City bus. I told Bill Smith—a first-class photographer and good friend—that I was looking for a new project. I wanted something rich in detail and character; something big enough to sink my teeth into, but small enough that I could get close to my subject matter. Bill dismissed shooting a book on my home state of Idaho. "The less you know about a place," he said, "the more likely you'll find the place's real character. How about Utah?" Utah is beautiful and diverse; it's a perfect blend of compelling landscapes and diverse people, so the idea immediately felt right. 2. An entire state is a big photo project. How long did it take? Six very intense seasons of shooting, plus another year of production. I was away from home a lot and if it weren't for the kindness and hospitality of all the people I met in Utah, it would have been very lonely. 3. Your book casts an impressively wide net—it mixes images of people, landscapes, and nature. I don't think you can define a place through a few epic pictures. I prefer the photo essay form that relates nature and people to really capture a place. Both are part of Utah's landscape. 4. How did you find your subject matter? Basically, I wandered a lot. I used a great guidebook—Off the Beaten Path by Michael Rutter—to find a few places, but for the most part I just went looking. Invariably, something would catch my eye: an emotional intensity, a flash of color, an unusual shape. I shot a lot of pretty pictures that didn't make the book. I was looking for images that said something significant about a place. Ultimately, I had to trust my instincts. 5. How many photographs did you take before culling it down to 102 images? About 5,000! 6. How do you like life on the road? It's a love/hate thing. I love the excitement, the freedom, and photographic spontaneity of life on the road. Considering my serendipitous approach to my work, every bend in the road or trail offers the promise of a new opportunity. On the downside, it's difficult to be away from home and loved ones for weeks and even months. 7. What were the technical challenges involved in moving from people to landscapes to nature photographs? At times it was a real juggling act. In one ten-day stretch, I shot the Bonneville Salt Flats, photographed Kokanee salmon under water, shot aerial skiers in Park City, and ran across elk somewhere in between. Each shoot requires different equipment and a unique creative approach, so I developed a checklist for each of my subject groups: landscapes, portraits, events, underwater and wildlife. Otherwise, I would have spent half of each shoot looking for the right equipment. 8. What was your most difficult shoot? The mountain goats in the Tushar Mountains (page 54) were tough. The altitude gave me a persistent headache, and it was very, very cold. The wind was gusting so strongly that it knocked me over three times as I tried to move around among the more sure-footed mountain goats. I walked away sore, cold, and hurting—and with a new respect for mountain goats. 9. You obviously invested a lot of time in the Field Notes at the end of the book. What was your approach to this section? I'm glad you noticed. The Field Notes comprise a small thumbnail of each image, information about the photograph, and a short paragraph of text explaining the context of the photo. I worked hard at the Notes because I wanted the reader to make a deeper connection. I wanted people to realize that this is a truly spectacular state, not just a collection of pretty pictures that happened to be photographed in Utah. 10. What is your favorite picture? Probably the little league boy at the Ogden Raptors minor league park. He's so emblematic of baseball, and within the frame there are several rich layers that suggest a larger story. 11. Are any of your images computer manipulated? Absolutely not! What you see in the book is what I shot—authentic glimpses of a place or a person. 12. What is the most interesting experience you had on the road? It was late April and I was headed to a sunset shoot in Dinosaur National Monument when I was ambushed by a scene so incredible it seemed like a gift from heaven. A beam from the setting sun illuminated a lone cowboy and three dogs moving a small herd of Black Angus through light drizzle. To the north, a rainbow arched across the slate gray sky. This scene absolutely stopped me in my tracks. I couldn't walk away. I introduced myself to Dean Chew and we fell to talking. We talked so long that he forgot his cattle and I forgot my pictures. At the end of the day, he invited me to join his extended family for dinner, and then to stay on for a couple of days. I was, and still am, moved that these hard-working ranchers would invite a complete stranger into their lives. 13. How did you choose Utah, Moments in Time for the title? The author Virginia Woolf wrote in her diary, "If one does not lie back and sum up and say to the moment, this very moment, stay you are so fair, what will be one's gain, dying? No: stay, this moment. No one ever says that enough." This quote indirectly speaks to the power of the still photographer, who stops a moment so that it can be savored and enjoyed. 14. What do you want readers to take away with them? I'd like them to enjoy a greater sense of curiosity and awareness. There is so much going on right out our back door. I'd like them to better appreciate the wonders of their immediate surroundings. And I'd like them to appreciate the beauty of Utah and its people. 15. Who are your creative influences? Photographers Paul Strand, Ernst Haas, Elliot Porter, Sam Abell, and Bill Allard. On a technical level, but not creative level, Ansel Adams was an influence. Storytellers like Wallace Stegner, Charles Kuralt, and Mark Twain influenced both my subject selection and passion for storytelling. 16. What is your photographic background? About twenty years ago I moved from magazine writing into a photography career. Since then, my professional life has found me shooting advertising and magazine photographs for publications like National Geographic, Audubon, and Outside. I am largely self-taught, and I really appreciate the power of the photo essay—a series of images, each of which adds to the last. 17. How much of your work is candid? Probably 98%. Even with the portraits. I choose a location, maintain a dialogue with the person, and let them pose themselves, occasionally suggesting a change of position. 18. What do you find gratifying about photography? I enjoy the physicality of the work and the sense of adventure, seeing new places, meeting people, then gaining a closeness and intimacy with the subject. And, at the end of the day, I have created something that is uniquely mine. 19. What equipment did you use? My main kit is Canon, 35mm with lenses ranging from 20mm to 600mm. I also use a view camera with a 6 x 7 roll back, a Leica rangefinder, basic strobes and tripods. For underwater photographs I use a Nikonos V and an Ikelight Housing. My films are Fuji Sensia, Velvia, and Agfa Scala. The quality of the reproduction in my book is so high that technical flaws are quickly exposed. Accordingly, I used the sharpest optics, the best films and high-quality techniques (e.g., tripods). It's every photographer's dream to see his work reproduced at this level. 20. What's next for you? I have a large body of work on flamingos throughout the world, so maybe that's my next book. For now, I still have a strong connection to Utah and am working on note cards and fine art prints based on Utah images, a poster of The Great Salt Lake and some public presentations. back to top