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Cougar In The Arts

Artists from a variety of mediums have been inspired to create by the cougar.

ARTIST PROFILE: Thomas D. Mangelsen

Ask most people how they feel about getting up before dawn to head off to work and you're more than likely to hear a long-winded mumbling and grumbling, uttering the dread of a crowded morning commute. For Tom Mangelsen, meeting the sunrise is a lifelong passion, one that has carried him to the farthest corners of the earth in search of bald eagles, polar bears, Bengal tigers, and African lions.

[+ ZOOM] Thomas D. Mangelsen, wildlife photographer

As one of the premier nature photographers in the world, Tom has made a name for himself by sticking by the standards that many nature photographers have long since abandoned in the dawn of computer-generated images and rent-an-animal farms. A purist to the end, Tom does not digitally-manipulate his images, and is vehemently opposed to photographing animal models in game farms. Instead, he focuses on three main elements to capture the ideal photograph: Patience, light, and behavior.

Tom's golden rules go back to the days when he'd spend hours by his dad's side in the duck blind, observing the abundant waterfowl of the Platte River ecosystem which fed his love for the natural world early on. Those rules, which he still relies on today are simple and straightforward, and combined with almost thirty years of practice in the field, have earned him the reputation for which he is known today.

Knowing the animals he is photographing, their behavior, and learning to see patterns between the two goes a long way when you spend eight months a year in the field. Understanding light and weather, which also affects animals' behavior, is key to knowing when to act. For example, in his best-selling limited edition print depicting a Bengal tiger titled "Light of the Forest", Tom was on elephant back, following the tigress into a thick bamboo forest in central India. He could see that if he just had a few more moments, the light would come through the trees and hit the tigress, illuminating her in the otherwise dark forest. Unfortunately, others were waiting to ride the elephant, but in a streak of good fortune, another tiger was spotted and the people waiting left the queue, allowing Tom the time to get the shot when the light came pouring in through the trees.

The North American Nature Photography Association honored Tom with its "Outstanding Photographer of the Year" award in 2000 for the most impressive body of work by a single photographer. In 1994 Tom was chosen by the BBC as "Wildlife Photographer of the Year," the most prestigious international award given in nature photography. His winning photograph was exhibited in the Museum of Natural History in London, part of a traveling exhibition which later toured the United States.

The award-winning image "Born of the North Wind" epitomizes the Arctic, summing up the existence of the polar bear beginning his long journey out onto frozen Hudson Bay, with his constant winter companion - a diminutive arctic fox - following behind. While many people put on their longest lens to get up-close-and-personal, Tom finds himself stepping back, pulling out to include a wider view of the natural world. Sensitivity to his subjects as well as a reverence for the land in which they make their home is the defining mark of Tom Mangelsen's work. "Environment and habitat are so important to the overall scheme of the image" Tom says. "After all, this is where these animals call home, and without placing them in that habitat, without including the artistry of place, the image would not be complete."

This is a unique technique among wildlife photographers, who, when shooting their images need to keep in mind the use of the photograph - which is most commonly for editorial purposes, for magazine covers or advertisements. While Tom frequently contributes to publications such as National Geographic, Life, Audubon, and Wildlife Art, the bulk of his photographs are made with an end result in mind: Pieces of artwork that stand alone.

Tom began his limited edition print business out of his father's garage, with he and his brother David Mangelsen building the frames by hand. This 'hands-on' craftsmanship was such a formidable part of his beginning that to this day

Tom employs his own staff of talented framers, who custom design each frame and mat combination to best display his images. His brothers, Bill, David, and Hal, remain closely tied to Tom's work, and Tom to theirs. The boys grew up working in the family business, Mangelsen's, a craft and hobby store, which Tom credits to his start in the gallery business. "Growing up in a retail environment gave me the business skills artists are famously known to be lacking. What you see in my pictures is what I care about - the natural world, the animals with whom we share this planet. I am interested in bringing that experience into people's homes, into their personal spaces, to remind them what we have to protect and care about."

Conservation is a key theme in Tom's photography. Through showing the beauty of nature, Tom hopes to encourage others to go out and discover the wonders the natural world has to offer, to care enough about it to help preserve what remains. The Vital Grounds project, an organization with which Tom is heavily involved, sets aside funds to purchase land for grizzly bears. "Loss of habitat is the greatest threat to the survival of species." Four years ago, Tom's traveling museum exhibition Images of Biodiversity premiered at the San Diego Museum of Natural History. "People don't understand what the big deal is if we lose one species of salamander or the California gnatcatcher. What's one bird, or one insect? they say. What they don't understand is that these animals, even the most seemingly insignificant ones, are the barometer of the health of this planet. If one goes, a food source for an entire species vanishes...It doesn't take long to realize that we are on that same chain, we are all linked in nature."

In 2001, Tom Mangelsen co-founded a nonprofit organization called The Cougar Fund. His activism efforts in the arena of conservation came to age with a once-in-a-lifetime experience in his hometown of Jackson, Wyoming. A mountain lion mother and her three young cubs came to the nearby National Elk Refuge, where they spent a month and a half in full sight of wildlife enthusiasts and Tom's lens. So inspired was he, that Tom spent 39 days photographing this family of cats. While mountain lions are not endangered, they have been wiped out of much of their range, which included all the continental United States. Today, they remain in only 13 of those states, and are still persecuted by trophy hunters.

"The Cougar Fund is about changing how we view and why we persecute this rare and elusive predator" Tom says. "Ultimately, our mission is to protect mountain lions wherever they remain." Based in Jackson, the organization will focus its efforts on Wyoming, a more conservative state in setting lion hunting quotas, and then span out to include other states in the Northern Rockies. "Female mountain lions are shot as frequently as males, often resulting in leaving cubs to die a slow death" Tom affirms. "In the hunting world, no other animal is shot when it has dependent young. This is inhumane and risks upsetting the natural balance of predator and prey."

This common bond between the animal world and the human world is what Tom aims to achieve in the experience in his galleries. His Images of Nature galleries are unique in that a visit to them results in a journey into the most peaceful, wondrous, and awe-inspiring settings in the world. With fifteen gallery locations throughout the West and Midwest, Tom's work has longed been viewed as collectible, and its popularity continues to grow. In the wake of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, while many businesses experienced a lag, the sale of Tom's images increased. "In the face of so much sadness, I hope my work reminds people of what is beautiful and, if we take care of it, lasting in this world. The natural world somehow has this incredible ability to put things in perspective."

When asked what he sees for the future of his work, he expresses the desire to see more people relate to the natural world, to be less afraid of the wild and what it represents. "I've recently released a book based on my time with the mountain lions called Spirit of the Rockies: The Mountain Lions of Jackson Hole. I never thought I'd have a chance to see a mountain lion, let alone photograph one. Mountain lions are more and more common, but the media paints them to be these hungry animals looking to eat our pets and children. Mountain lions, like all wild animals, need space and food. If we take that away from them, we take away their wildness. This book, while documenting an incredibly rare occurrence of a mother lion with three cubs over the course of a month and a half, will also help people understand and sympathize with the animal, its requirements, its needs. And this is what I hope all my work accomplishes. After all, art expresses the ability to be moved, and to care."

ARTIST PROFILE: Kenton Rowe

Kenton's photography has been widely published and can frequently be found in Montana Outdoors and Montana Magazine. He is currently working on commissioned projects for Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks and philanthropist Thomas Siebel. Part of the ever shrinking group of photographers whose artistic approach is pure, he does not Photoshop or use game farms, just patience and perseverance. His fine art photographic prints can be found in the Bears Den Gallery in Helena, Montana and in private collections around the country. Kenton is currently working on "Montana Top to Bottom" his first book endeavour chronicling Montana's people, places, and wildlife.

"There are a lot of solid groups working toward conservation and I strongly support groups like the Cougar Fund, The Nature Conservancy, and Audubon. I believe whole heartily in what they are doing, yet I believe there is still a missing component to the conservation puzzle. Kids... Studies show that if a child does not connect with any outdoor activity at an early age that most never will. I have personally attended numerous bird watching and counting events where there was not eve one child involved." With connecting kids and families to nature in mind, Kenton co-founded Bridges to Nature Foundation. Bridges to Nature,partners with conservation groups and state agencies to provide kids with safe and innovative conduits for connecting with the outdoors and wildlife.

Cougars became an animal of special interest for Kenton while shooting for a 2008 Montana Outdoors article. Some hunters found and led him to a den where a mother cougar had two young cubs. The shallow cave she had chosen for a den site provided an amazing opportunity for Kenton to capture intimate images of the family as she nursed the cubs, cleaned them, and in one image entitled "Proud Mama" even appears to be showing one off a little.

View more of his work at www.kentonrowephotography.com