ABSTRACT
George Shiras’s early experiments with wildlife photography involved constructing blinds, in which he could hide at a distance from a passing animal and pull a wire when one approached. As cultural historian Finis Dunaway points out, for early wildlife photographers, like Shiras, the camera had the ability to stop time, functioning, at the very least, as a technology of memory to record and preserve threatened landscapes and animals. In addition to photography, Shiras took decisive action to preserve wild lands and animals, including promoting early land preservation legislation and wildlife management. A one-time avid hunter, Shiras ultimately saw photography as the superior hunting technology, preserving animal life and the thrill of the chase simultaneously. Working from the assumption that nonhuman animals in the wilderness were separate from humanity and civilization, Shiras imagined a way to photograph animals that would seemingly remove human intervention from the creative act.
