Camera Hunter: George Shiras III and the Birth of Wildlife Photography

by James H. McCommons

Overview

Selected as a 2020 Michigan Notable Book by the Library of Michigan

In 1906 George Shiras III (1859-1942) published a series of remarkable nighttime photographs in National Geographic. Taken with crude equipment, the black-and-white photographs featured leaping whitetail deer, a beaver gnawing on a tree, and a snowy owl perched along the shore of a lake in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The pictures, stunning in detail and composition, celebrated American wildlife at a time when many species were going extinct because of habitat loss and unrestrained hunting. As a congressman and lawyer, Shiras joined forces with his friend Theodore Roosevelt and scientists in Washington, DC, who shaped the conservation movement during the Progressive Era. His legal and legislative efforts culminated with the passage of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

Camera Hunter recounts Shiras's life and craft as he traveled to wild country in North America, refined his trail-camera techniques, and advocated for the protection of wildlife. This biography serves as an important record of Shiras's accomplishments as a visual artist, wildlife conservationist, adventurer, and legislator.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826362742
Publisher:	University of New Mexico Press
Publication date:	05/15/2021
Pages:	408
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

James H. McCommons is a professor teaching journalism in the English Department at Northern Michigan University. He is the author of Waiting on a Train: The Embattled Future of Passenger Rail Service.

Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter One. Whitefish Lake
Chapter Two. Pittsburgh Roots
Chapter Three. Boyhood Days in Michigan
Chapter Four. School Days for Blue Bloods
Chapter Five. Camera Hunting
Chapter Six. Pennsylvania Politics
Chapter Seven. The Great Bird Mystery
Chapter Eight. Camp Life and Camera Traps
Chapter Nine. A Progressive Goes To Washington
Chapter Ten. The National Geographic Society
Chapter Eleven. Ormond Beach
Chapter Twelve. Bahamas, Mexico
Chapter Thirteen. Newfoundland and Nature Fakers
Chapter Fourteen. Eminent Personalities
Chapter Fifteen. Yellowstone and the Shiras Moose
Chapter Sixteen. The Kenai Peninsula
Chapter Seventeen. Roosevelt-Newett Libel Trial
Chapter Eighteen. The Crusade to Save Birds
Chapter Nineteen. The Shiras Bear
Chapter Twenty. Gatun Lake and Panama
Chapter Twenty-One. The Bullet Is on the Way
Chapter Twenty-Two. The Bird Treaty
Chapter Twenty-Three. Yellowstone Dam Fight
Chapter Twenty-Four. Kaibab Plateau
Chapter Twenty-Five. Final Bird Battles
Chapter Twenty-Six. The Big Book
Chapter Twenty-Seven. Last Days
Epilogue

Acknowledgments
Notes and References
Index

Editorial Reviews

"Chronicling Shiras's many achievements . . . and shedding light on his times, McCommons presents a full life with admirable economy."

—Library Journal

"This biography of a pioneer of photography and a dedicated outdoorsman and conservationist is an important contribution, especially to the history of progressive conservation."

—National Parks Traveler

"In addition to being a thorough biography, an entertaining travel guide, and a rich and detailed history of the early conservation movement, Camera Hunter will enthrall nature lovers, enlighten scholars, and fascinate photography hobbyists and professionals."

—Foreword Reviews

"Bursting with authentic details."

—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

From the Publisher

09/01/2019

George Shiras III (1859–1942) led a remarkable life: the son of a Supreme Court judge, Shiras was a pioneering photographer and a member of a fraternity of early conservationists that included Theodore Roosevelt and George Bird Grinnell. Born to a wealthy Pittsburgh family, Shiras forged his connection to nature by hunting and fishing in Michigan's Lake Superior region, where he went in 1870 when he was 11 and returned every summer for 70 years. McCommons (journalism, Northern Michigan Univ.) traces Shiras's "peculiar mental evolution" from hunter-killer to camera hunter; his witness to Gilded Age resource exploitation and market hunter waste figured largely. Around 1889, Shiras began experimenting with cameras to capture wildlife at night in natural habitats, varying methods of approach to skittish subjects and tinkering with trip wires, flashlight setups, and camera traps. In 1906, National Geographic devoted almost the entire issue to his work. It was beneficial for both photographer and magazine, and the beginning of a long relationship with the organization. His nocturnal pictures—still strikingly eery and intense—are sprinkled throughout the book. VERDICT Chronicling Shiras's many achievements (e.g., his Migratory Birds Act advocacy, his discovery of the "Shiras Moose") and shedding light on his times, McCommons presents a full life with admirable economy.—Robert Eagan, Windsor P.L., Ont.

Library Journal