Greg Mac Gregor: Lewis and Clark Revisited - P.A.W. Print

Greg Mac Gregor: Lewis and Clark Revisited: A Trail in Modern Day
by Amber Fairweather


	Greg Mac Gregor, photo, Jo Whaley.

"I want to take you on a trip, in a car. That's what I did," Greg Mac Gregor says as he explains how he retraced the steps of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, following what he calls the "wildest river," the Missouri River, through eleven states. Mac Gregor's photo documentation of the expedition, along with the explorers' journal entries can be seen at the exhibition, Lewis and Clark Revisited: A Trail in Modern Day, Photographs by Greg Mac Gregor, which will be featured at the Philadelphia Museum of Art from December 11, 2004 to February 6, 2005 in the Julien Levy Gallery.

The exhibition is part of a bicentennial celebration of the 1803 to 1806 Lewis and Clark Expedition, in which Thomas Jefferson commanded Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, with a small brigade, to explore the land obtained by the Louisiana Purchase and to find a passageway to the Pacific Ocean.


Cracked sacred rock of the Mandans, near Fort Clark, North Dakota, 1999, Greg Mac Gregor. Gelatin silver print, framed, 23 x 20 inches.

Why revisit history? After documenting The Oregon Trail and the Mormon Trail, it made sense when the National Park Service approached Mac Gregor in 1993 to retrace and photograph the journey of Lewis and Clark. Mac Gregor admits he was not excited about the project at first, but as he followed the explorers' footsteps, he realized its importance. Six years later in 1999, Mac Gregor returned on his own to the famed trail not just to commemorate the journey, but to tell a story which can also be seen in his book Lewis and Clark Revisted: A Photographer's Trail.

"Reading the journals of Lewis and Clark is what kept me going, [and also the fact] that they didn't know if they would get home or not," says MacGregor. "The more I read, the more I wanted to take pictures."

The expedition has been photographed before, but MacGregor's approach is a departure from previous ventures. Others took a route he describes as a "nostalgic journey" that was characterized by contemporary landscapes that included damns, ranches, bridges, houses, and people.


	Fresh caught Sturgeon, Bonneville Dam, Oregon, 1998, Greg Mac Gregor. Gelatin silver print, framed, 23 x 20 inches.

"I went the other way: contemporary. Otherwise I'd be doing what everyone else was doing." Mac Gregor remembers a photographer who also documented the expedition telling him,"You and I have something in common… but I hope you did it the way I wish I could have."

Mac Gregor took photographs he believes viewers will find interesting with vast horizons, and a focus on land usage and change. "With [a] project … you think of a way to engage the audience…changes were important and were a jumpstart to a lot of photos."

"One hundred years from now, when you [see] a picture…what will be interesting to me are automobiles. They're not going to be around and they're going to look silly." Mac Gregor says as he describes how this documentation of the exhibition will be important to future audiences.

Since Mac Gregor's documentation, the famed route has already changed. The opening photograph of the exhibit, Fourth Street Bridge of Saint Charles, Missouri, has been torn down and replaced by concrete slabs. A photo of a cattle ranch now only exists as a piece of history in Mac Gregor's photo.


Saint Charles, Missouri and Fourth Street Bridge, 1994, Greg Mac Gregor. Gelatin silver print, framed, 23 x 20 inches.

Mac Gregor also wanted to tell "a story of ourselves and our future… and the struggle of Lewis and Clark. They were struggling guys, not heroes [and] I wanted that to come out [and] to tell a different story, than what's out there. I think of those guys traveling up the river with a three mile-an-hour current. I don't know how they did it, traveling upstream. Reading their journals… they should've been dead about 15 times. The more I read, the more I think of what an amazing species we are. Could we do this today?"

Mac Gregor says "In every photo I tried to imagine the horizon. In every photo, there are no close ups. I wanted to portray a sense of marching west, there's always a horizon."

Lewis and Clark Revisited: A Trail in Modern Day will run at the Museum through February 6, 2005 in the Julien Levy Gallery. Mac Gregor will give a public lecture at the Academy of Natural Sciences at 2:30 p.m. on December 11, 2004. Visit www.gregmacgregor.com to learn more about the featured photographer.