Thursday, May 13, 2021
GO! magazine — A&E in Northeast Oregon
3
FIRE IN THE WEST
new perspectives from old photographs
join virtual discussion
with steve pyne
FIRE STORIES
JOSEPH — The Josephy Center for Arts and Culture is hosting “Fire
in the West,” a virtual discussion with author Stephen J. Pyne, Thursday,
May 20, in honor of its spring exhibit, “Fire Stories,” which is now on
display at the center, 403 N. Main St., Joseph.
Pyne, author and an emeritus professor at Arizona State University,
specializes in environmental history, the history of exploration and espe-
cially the history of fi re.
The two-hour discussion is free, open to all, and will be held via Zoom
beginning at 2 p.m. For access and other details, visit https://josephy.org/
event/fi re-in-the-west-discussion, email info@josephy.org or call the center
at 541-432-0505.
ABOUT STEPHEN J. PYNE
Steve Pyne is an emeritus professor at
Arizona State University. He has been
at ASU since 1985. In 1986 he joined the
charter faculty at ASU West, where he
remained for 10 years. He transferred to
the School of Life Sciences in 1999.
Pyne has published 35 books, most of
them dealing with fi re, but others on Ant-
arctica, the Grand Canyon, the Voyager
mission and, with his oldest daughter, an
inquiry into the Pleistocene.
His fi re histories include surveys of
www.stephenpyne.com/
Contributed photo and bio
America, Australia, Canada, Europe (in-
cluding Russia) and the Earth.
“The Ice: A Journey to Antarctica” was named by the New York Times
to its 10 best books for 1987. “Fire in America: A Cultural History of Wild-
land and Rural Fire” won the Forest History Society’s best book award.
Pyne has twice been awarded NEH Fellowships, twice been a fellow at
the National Humanities Center, enjoyed a summer Fulbright Fellow-
ship to Sweden, and has received a MacArthur Fellowship (1988-1993).
In 1995 he received the Robert Kirsch Award from the Los Angeles Times
for body-of-work contribution to American letters.
Pyne now lives on an urban farm in Queen Creek, Arizona, where he
raises Tunis sheep, chickens and citrus.
To learn more, go to www.stephenpyne.com.
JOSEPH — The Josephy Center’s
spring exhibit, “Fire Stories,” is a his-
toric and contemporary exploration of
wildfi re in Northwest landscapes.
The exhibit showcases photos
taken from fi re lookout towers with
Osborne panoramic cameras nearly
100 years ago paired with modern
replications from photographer and
naturalist John F. Marshall. The
paired images provide a unique
perspective — the contrasts showing
how fi re and fi re suppression have
changed the landscapes of the Wal-
lowa and Blue mountains.
In the 1930s, with a camera de-
signed by U.S. Forest Service worker
William Bushnell “Bush” Osborne
and built by Leupold-Volpel & Co. in
Portland, foresters took pictures from
fi re lookout towers across the North-
west. Each photo covered 120 degrees,
so three photos captured the entire
region surveyed from each tower,
and, matched with the “Osborne
Firefi nder,” allowed lookout guards to
pinpoint the fi res and communicate
up the line.
Marshall has trekked the Wallowa
and Blue mountains to fi nd these
Osborne photo locations — fi nding
a vantage point to match the 1930s
viewsheds — and take pictures from
the same spots.
The relationship between humans
and fi re is tangled with how we live
on the land and use its resources.
American Indians long learned to
live with fi re and made it useful.
European settlement brought a dif-
ferent sensibility and the tools and
organization to control fi re — but it
wasn’t understood then how fi re is es-
sential to the function of nature, and
attempting to eliminate fi re has only
increased its destructive power.
How does nature live with fi re, and
how can we? According to the Josephy
Center’s description of the exhibit,
these are questions that cannot be
ignored in this unprecedented time.
“Fire Stories” provides some answers
and stimulates more thought and
discussion.
The then-and-now photos illus-
trate the positive roles of historical
wildfi res and document changes in
the role of fi re in the modern era.
Works of art on their own, the “Fire
Stories” photographs show how art,
history and science can work together
to teach us about Pacifi c Northwest
forests.
The exhibit will be up until June
15. Gallery hours at the Josephy
Center, 403 N. Main St., Joseph, are
noon to 5 p.m. on weekdays and noon
to 4 p.m. on Saturdays.
FREE eBooks
and audiobooks
Thousands of titles
Josephy Center/Contibuted Photo
“Fire Stories” features histori-
cal photographs taken with
a unique camera called the
“Osborne Photo Recording
Transit.” The cameras were
used by the U.S. Forest Ser-
vice in the 1930s to capture
large-format panoramic im-
ages from fi re lookout towers
and other sites throughout
Oregon and Washington.
The panoramic camera had
a moving lens in front of a
stationary 6” x 13” negative.
The photographer would
wind it up to do the picture
taking. Fewer than 10 of the
Osborne cameras were built.
AVAILABLE DAILY
Noon to midnight
Unlimited # of sessions at NO CHARGE!
It’s PRE-PAID with your taxes.
Access with
your Baker County Library Card
from www.bakerlib.org/kids-teens
Explore the ONLINE LIBRARY at www.bakerlib.org
541.523.6419
info@bakerlib.org