Travel to John Fielder’s ‘favorite place’ at History Colorado

DENVER — Earlier this year, History Colorado announced that preeminent nature photographer John Fielder was donating his life’s work to the state historical society. 

The photos have been available to the public for months in a digital library. But starting July 22, History Colorado will open “REVEALED: John Fielder’s Favorite Place,” an exhibit about a Colorado location that Fielder deems “the most sublime in all of Colorado.” 

“This is your opportunity to be by my side helping me with my cameras and my gear as I document the most beautiful place I have ever been in Colorado during countless journeys over 50 years of exploring the state,” Fielder said in a press release. 

Fielder’s favorite place is a secret until he reveals it at the exhibit, as you may have surmised from its title. For what it’s worth, the image History Colorado is using on the exhibit’s web page was taken at Jagged Mountain in the Weminuche Wilderness along the borders of La Plata and San Juan County. But perhaps that is a decoy. 

The exhibit will feature large-scale prints of Fielder’s famous photography. The museum also promises to take visitors “behind the lens to explore John’s personal reflections and well-worn equipment that reveal how he survived nature’s disregard for a photographer’s comfort, embraced the incredible solace to be found in spaces of complete vulnerability, and captured the magic of the moment.” 

When Rocky Mountain PBS spoke to Fielder in February, he shared how immense personal loss has influenced his work. He lost his wife to Alzheimer’s when she was just 59 years and not long after, Fielder’s son died by suicide. 

Fielder also spoke of his concern for the health of our planet. 

“That’s the purpose of what I’ve been doing lately … to show people how bad climate change is and how much worse it might get if we don’t reconsider our lifestyles and figure out what needs to be done to stop global warming,” Fielder said. 

He hopes his donated photos inspire people to listen to climate experts and enjoy the natural beauty surrounding Coloradans. 

“It’s one thing to look at a Fielder photograph in a book or on a wall, but it’s another completely different to be outdoors yourself,” he explained to Rocky Mountain PBS. “To not just see the views, but to smell the decaying aspen leaves in the fall, to taste freshly melted snow, to touch the aspen tree bark, to hear the rustling of the aspen leaves in the air.” 

History Colorado’s president and CEO, Dawn DiPrince, said this new exhibit is “just the beginning” of the exhibitions that will happen as a result of Fielder’s donation. 

“In the future we will be dedicating the second floor mezzanine of the History Colorado Center to John’s work, incorporating his photography into exhibitions at our museums across the state, and ensuring everyone can view the Centennial State as he has and understand the ways our Colorado has changed in the past half century,” DiPrince wrote.

Kyle Cooke is the digital media manager at Rocky Mountain PBS. You can reach him at kylecooke@rmpbs.org.