Thomas D. Mangelsen: A Life In The Wild

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Thomas D. Mangelsen, "Light in the Forest," 2020

Renowned American nature and wildlife photographer Thomas D. Mangelsen has traveled throughout the natural world for over 45 years observing and photographing Earth’s last great wild places. A Life in the Wild is a collection of his most resonant images. 

Every single image in Mangelsen’s portfolio has been taken in the wild under natural conditions: the result of him waiting for the “picture perfect moment” across decades and often in hostile conditions. Such a body of work can only be achieved by having a heightened sense of animal behaviour, an uncanny ability to read changing atmospherics in the environment, and patience. At a time when digital technology is, notoriously, reprogramming its users to have shorter attention spans, A Life in the Wild stands as a testament to the rewards that can come to people who slow down their lives and wait for nature’s revelations to happen.

Thomas Mangelsen said: 

"It was 1969, I was 23, and had just graduated from college. I hadn’t yet begun photographing (I was a late bloomer), but I was keenly aware and drawn to Robert Bateman’s artwork. I think it was [his] uncanny ability to “see” what most of us could not. 

Robert Bateman’s compositions and concepts were so fresh and unexpected. For several years a postcard size image of Coyote in Winter Sage was taped above my desk. I was making wildlife films for $2.50 an hour and couldn’t afford the 1979 print. It said so much about the West I knew, even to the surprise detail of a faded Budweiser can hidden in the sage, likely thrown out a pickup window. The beauty of the coyote, sage, glacial stones, long prairie grass, and the beer can: all symbols of the West, including the coyote’s longtime and careless persecution. Print number 314/950 of Coyote in Winter Sage hangs above my desk today.

I could have never imagined having an exhibit at the Bateman Gallery. I am honoured and grateful to have been so inspired by Robert Bateman’s work and environmental advocacy. Most of all, I’m proud to call him my friend."