Video interview: Dallas photographer Scot Miller, on photo-illustrating the writings of John Muir

by John P. Meyer

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Miller may not compare himself to Ansel Adams, but he's certainly walking in that great photographer's footsteps.

Dallas resident Scot Miller got serious about fine art photography as a profession — and, coincidentally, found his artistic muse — by doing volunteer work for environmentally-supportive non profits such as the Yosemite Conservancy (YS). In the '90s, Scot operated an advertising agency here in Dallas and began working pro-bono for YS. He traveled back and forth to California and exposed lots of film in the process.

You can feast your eyes on the magnificent results of Scot's 12+ years of High Sierra nature photography at Dallas' Sun to Moon Gallery beginning this weekend, when he'll be on hand to open an exhibit of his prints. He'll also be signing copies of the just-published book in which the images are featured: the 100th anniversary illustrated edition of John Muir's My First Summer in the Sierra.

Miller continues making photographs of the Sierra, but is also shifting his focus to the Maine woods (in preparation for the 150th anniversary of Thoreau's The Maine Woods); he also spends a lot of time in the Texas Hill Country on the LBJ Ranch (in what is now known as Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park), where he has been honored with the designation "artist-in-park." Somewhere amongst these other excursions, he's also finding time to shoot photos in the Ozarks.

Air travel with his medium format camera and lenses — in addition to the hi-def video equipment he uses to document his trips — can be challenging, Miller admits. He says he is in no way opposed to digital cameras, but for his large format art prints, he still works primarily with film. It's a format and a workflow with which he is comfortable, and it's hard to argue with the results we see on the gallery walls.

If you miss this week's reception and book signing, you'll have another chance to meet Scot next Saturday afternoon, when gallery visitors will get a look at Miller's (short) documentary about the making of the photographs used in the book. (The video will be shown several times throughout the afternoon.)

Here's Scot talking about his new book, and about how he comes up with fresh views of regions that have been photographed so often before.

NOTE that a portion of the proceeds from sales of both Miller's prints and the books they illustrate go to help support the Yosemite Conservancy.

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