Gus Foster: Breathtaking Views

Albuquerque Museum

Left to right, top to bottom: front of museum, Park Place, 1998, bronze by Glenna Goodacre, Lubbock, TX; Earth Mother, Offering for a Good Life, bronze, by Estella Loretto, Jemez Pueblo, NM; detail of Park Place, 1998, bronze, by Glenna Goodacre, Lubbock, TX; Museum visitors looking at Gray Cross with Blue, 1929, by Georgia O'Keeffe.

Albuquerque, NM

505.243.7255

muslev@museum.cabq.gov

Gus Foster: Breathtaking Views

May 16 - August 22, 1999

Wheeler Peak Wilderness, NM , 1987 (left) and Cruces Basin Wilderness, 1988 (right)

Gus Foster spent the past 20 years capturing the Continental Divide on film. The result is a stunning view of the Rockies stretching from Canada to New Mexico.

Capturing the magnificent photographs is a high altitude adventure. It can take several days for Foster and his climbing partners, carrying a 70-pound camera pack, to reach mountain peaks of more than 14-thousand feet. Once they reach the top, Foster must wait for ideal conditions to capture the incredible view. It takes 30 seconds for his panoramic scanning camera to make its 360-degree sweep. Even the slightest vibration ruins the picture. But if all goes well, the image is picture perfect, capturing 75 miles in all directions.

Foster's quest to photograph the Continental Divide has been an exciting journey, from New Mexico's Pecos Wilderness to Cloud Peak in Wyoming to Trapper Peak in Idaho. Exhibit visitors will feel as if they've been there too. Some of the Rocky Mountain images measure 3 by 12 feet! As for Foster's favorite view . . . the Taos resident says it's atop 14,082 foot Windom Peak in Colorado's San Juan Mountains.

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