Reflections of Denali Legacy Reserve
Legacy Reserve Collection
Denali National Park, Alaska
Edition of 20
Item Number 6083LR
“All my life, I have dreamed about wildness as mirrored in the romantic landscape paintings of Thomas Moran, Albert Biertstadt, Sydney Laurence and others of the 19th century who ventured to the American West and Alaska,” says Thomas D. Mangselsen. “The mood and sense of place they created in their work is incomparable. Still, it didn’t stop me from trying to convey the same kind of otherworldly romance with a camera.”
Critics say that with Reflections of Denali, a grand panoramic that functions as a grand idyllic window into Alaska’s globally-renowned park, Denali, Mangelsen triumphs in that quest. Its silhouette visually echoes on the surface of a tundra pond as autumn sets in, a moose walks a line of brilliant color lighting up the tundra. He stands still for a brief moment surveying his domain. There is a heavenly balance of earth and sky, a calm of dim ethereal atmosphere, making Reflections of Denali read as if it were a Moran painting.
“I want to photograph scenes into which viewers can escape with their thoughts and even get lost in them,” Mangelsen says. “I’ve been to Denali more than two dozen times and with each visit comes a revelation. With this photograph, it is meant to convey the humbling lesson of letting nature in. It can leave us inspired and transformed. It can leave you thinking you are damned glad to be alive.”
"As we hurriedly went to the far side and scrambled down the steep embankment to set up, I saw the bull coming through the alders toward us and into the scene i had previsualized, and hoped for, with Denali's reflection in the water. The odds that the moose would walk into the clearing were probably one in twenty and the odds of him actually stopping were even greater, but we knew if he did it would be wonderful."
Critics say that with Reflections of Denali, a grand panoramic that functions as a grand idyllic window into Alaska’s globally-renowned park, Denali, Mangelsen triumphs in that quest. Its silhouette visually echoes on the surface of a tundra pond as autumn sets in, a moose walks a line of brilliant color lighting up the tundra. He stands still for a brief moment surveying his domain. There is a heavenly balance of earth and sky, a calm of dim ethereal atmosphere, making Reflections of Denali read as if it were a Moran painting.
“I want to photograph scenes into which viewers can escape with their thoughts and even get lost in them,” Mangelsen says. “I’ve been to Denali more than two dozen times and with each visit comes a revelation. With this photograph, it is meant to convey the humbling lesson of letting nature in. It can leave us inspired and transformed. It can leave you thinking you are damned glad to be alive.”
"As we hurriedly went to the far side and scrambled down the steep embankment to set up, I saw the bull coming through the alders toward us and into the scene i had previsualized, and hoped for, with Denali's reflection in the water. The odds that the moose would walk into the clearing were probably one in twenty and the odds of him actually stopping were even greater, but we knew if he did it would be wonderful."
In 1974 when Mangelsen created his very first limited edition photograph, he made the decision to hold back his most cherished prints, numbered 1 through 20, so that one day as a career capstone they would be offered as part of a Legacy Reserve Collection.
Collectors now have the unique opportunity to own one of the twenty numbers from his personal artist reserve. These masterworks represent the “best of the best” of Mangelsen’s prestigious fine art photographs.
Read more about the Legacy Reserve Collection