Landscapes for the People: George Alexander Grant, First Chief Photographer of the National Park Service

Winner of the American Library Association's 2015 INDIEFAB Gold Medal for best photography book published by an independent or academic press

George Alexander Grant is an unknown elder in the field of American landscape photography. Just as they did the work of his contemporaries Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Eliot Porter, and others, millions of people viewed Grant's photographs; unlike those contemporaries, few even knew Grant's name. Landscapes for the People shares his story through his remarkable images and a compelling biography profiling patience, perseverance, dedication, and an unsurpassed love of the natural and historic places that Americans chose to preserve.
A Pennsylvania native, Grant was introduced to the parks during the summer of 1922 and resolved to make parks work and photography his life. Seven years later, he received his dream job and spent the next quarter century visiting the four corners of the country to produce images in more than one hundred national parks, monuments, historic sites, battlefields, and other locations. He was there to visually document the dramatic expansion of the National Park Service during the New Deal, including the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps.
Grant's images are the work of a master craftsman. His practiced eye for composition and exposure and his patience to capture subjects in their finest light are comparable to those of his more widely known contemporaries. Nearly fifty years after his death, and in concert with the 2016 centennial of the National Park Service, it is fitting that George Grant's photography be introduced to a new generation of Americans.

Ren Davis (Author)
REN DAVIS, a retired healthcare executive of thirty-two years, has had his travel writing and photography appear in such places as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Georgia Magazine, and Atlanta Magazine. He is coauthor, with Helen Davis, of several books including Landscapes for the People: George Alexander Grant, First Chief Photographer of the National Park Service (Georgia); Atlanta’s Oakland Cemetery: An Illustrated History and Guide (also Georgia); Georgia Walks: Discovering Hikes through the Peach State’s Natural and Human History; and Atlanta Walks: A Comprehensive Guide to Walking, Running, and Bicycling the Area’s Scenic and Historic Locales.

Helen Davis (Author)
HELEN DAVIS taught for nearly thirty years in Atlanta public and private schools. She is coauthor, with Ren Davis, of several books including Landscapes for the People: George Alexander Grant, First Chief Photographer of the National Park Service (Georgia); Atlanta’s Oakland Cemetery: An Illustrated History and Guide (also Georgia); Georgia Walks: Discovering Hikes through the Peach State’s Natural and Human History; and Atlanta Walks: A Comprehensive Guide to Walking, Running, and Bicycling the Area’s Scenic and Historic Locales.