“Wet Carrissa,” R. Buchbinder ©2001, Durst Lambda print

Wilderness Visions

Richard Buchbinder’s photographs reflect his passion for the wild and beautiful world.

By Charlotte Berney

Focus Santa Fe April/May 2004

Richard Buchbinder photographs the natural world with love and reverence and ardor. He labors to discover the perfect place and moment when the light is just right, then uses his technical skill and poetic sense to transform the scene into an image that becomes his personal witness to beauty. Thus the mystery of wild places is passed down to us, on paper, in a frame. We are able to participate in the enchantment.

Buchbinder’s photographs embrace the grand view—sand dunes, wide skies and mountain ranges—and the intimate—reflections in a still lake or the moonlike surface of a lichen. He brings to both a high degree of originality and a vision that melds aesthetics with an excellent design sense.

“I enjoy compositions that make use of line, shape and pattern,” says Buchbinder. “I always focus on the ethereal qualities of light. Other themes of mine are the myriad colors found in the landscape in spring and fall, and the effects of water in all its forms.”

Buchbinder discovered the marvelous variety of nature not in exotic locales but close to home. The national parks of North America are, he believes, an amazing repository of the most exquisite nature the planet has to offer. He is always surprised at the diversity he encounters. “When most people think of our national parks, they picture forests, mountains, and waterfalls. There’s so much more!”

His journey into the natural world and the discipline of photography began three decades ago when he took eight weeks off one summer to visit several national parks. He had grown up in urban New Jersey and found himself “awestruck” by what he saw in the parks. On that seminal trip, he borrowed his buddy’s camera and was intrigued with the process of composing a photograph.

Buchbinder travels the wilderness areas in the United States and Canada.“I love the solitude of the wilderness.Sometimes I’ll go out and hike without a camera and make notes on the terrain,light,and weather conditions. Since it’s all about the light,I pay attention to the quality of light, waiting to catch the extraordinary moment.When I’m photographing, time passes quickly. It’s like being in an altered state.I think that,for me, photography is a way to express calmness and serenity.”

Anyone who spends time outdoors knows that at times the experience can be anything but serene. Bears? “I’ve been fortunate,” he remarks.“I’ve encountered lots of bears but not in dangerous circumstances.” Rain? “I pull out my rain parka. Actually, shooting in the rain can be interesting.” He sums up,“You have to be in the right place at the right time.You definitely have to plan ahead. The joy of being out there compensates for any hardships.”

“White Sand Curves,” R. Buchbinder©2000, Durst Lambda print

“Floating Trees,” R. Buchbinder ©2003, Durst Lambda prin

He has photographed internationally, at the pyramids of Egypt and on the plains of La Mancha in Spain but finds himself coming back to the national parks. Does he have favorites? “Oh, many. I’d have to say Yosemite and Glacier. White Sands National Monument in New Mexico. Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Arizona. Death Valley. Big Bend National Park. Banff and Jasper National Parks in the Canadian Rockies. These are all places I love.”

With this richness and variety to choose from, what is the unifying factor in Buchbinder’s body of work? “My photographs have an abstract quality,” he says. “They can feel otherworldly. This is an effect I work to achieve whether the scale is large or small. I like capturing the monumental as well as the detail where the identity of an image isn’t obvious.”

Water figures frequently in his compositions, and he calls it a “constant theme of mine.” “Water is ever moving and changing, and there are so many photographic possibilities. I like calm, still water and also the power in rapids and cascading falls. Mist, storm clouds, and reflections all transmit a certain mood.”

Buchbinder knows that photographs “stimulate thoughts and feelings.” He finds that people who have been to the places he depicts respond even more strongly to his images. He aims to inspire others with the wonder of the natural world, not only to enlighten them but to save the actual places.

“I feel strongly about preservation,” he says. “I’ll go back to a place I visited years ago and find stark differences. It’s obvious that our resources are being degraded, that many of our parks are in danger. We don’t seem to have a plan for preserving them. These special places on earth are so important. They are part of the whole human experience, a significant resource not just for North Americans but for the planet.

He believes awareness will increase as people see the beauty first-hand. “People who don’t experience the natural world don’t relate to it in a personal way, so when they hear about preservation, it’s a remote concept. On the other hand, people who have been there make that personal connection. Once you develop a relationship with a place, you can’t help but give its preservation a high priority.”

Buchbinder’s photographs are a powerful advocate for those unique places. If, as John Muir wrote, in wildness lies the hope of the world, then images of the wilderness show us just what we stand to lose.Meanwhile, Richard Buchbinder is planning his next trip with camera in hand.

He enjoys the outdoor lifestyle in his adopted home of Scottsdale,Arizona,where he moved in the late seventies. In between forays into nature, he practices Aikido, a martial art that he’s studied in the United States and Japan, and he keeps fit by running five miles a day. It was through Aikido that he met Glenn Green, the owner of Glenn Green Galleries,who says,“I’ve been enthusiastic about Richard’s work for many years and have represented him since 2001.”

“I’d lived in New Jersey, New York City, and Cleveland. It was cold in Cleveland when I went out to visit my brother in Arizona.There, it was 80 degrees and the sun was shining. I’d always been intrigued with the idea of living in the west, and it didn’t take me long to figure out that’s where I should be.”He enjoys the active arts scene in Scottsdale.

Where will Buchbinder’s muse take him next? He mentions New Brunswick,Montana, and the Canadian Rockies as his next trips. Wherever he goes and whatever images he conjures,they’re certain to speak of passion and love and nature’s magnificence.