SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST:
Art meets national parks. A new book, "Parks 2," by the indie bookmaker Standards Manual is a celebration of America's national parks and the iconic designs that went into over 300 national park maps, brochures and other materials over more than 100 years. The volume also includes essays by fans of the parks, including photographer Brian Kelley, who joins me now to talk about this project. Hey, Brian. Thanks for being here.
BRIAN KELLEY: Hey. Thanks for having me.
MCCAMMON: You are the collector behind this book, "Parks 2." Just first of all, tell us how this project got started. How'd you conceive of it?
KELLEY: Back in 2017, I had just completed my first book with Standards Manual, which was a collection of New York City Transit Authority maps, brochures, just general ephemera. At the time, I had just been starting to travel around to a lot of the national parks in the United States and started collecting those maps. And then about a year and a half later, we were able to put together "Parks 1." Basically, that kind of took off. And after "Parks 1," you know, I still have probably about 1,200 of these maps. And so we just figured, might as well try to do "Parks 2" and keep it going.
MCCAMMON: I think a lot of us who've been to a national park might have collected, you know, a map or a flyer or a brochure with those classic photos of mountains and landscapes. I think a lot of people end up throwing those in the trash.
KELLEY: Yeah.
MCCAMMON: What made you start collecting them?
KELLEY: Well, I think it was, like, holding on to one at a time. And so if you just have one map, it doesn't feel as significant. It might hold a memory. But then when you start getting this massive collection of them, it feels more like an archive. I feel as though a lot of these maps, especially from the early 1900s all the way up to 1965 - you know, unless you were visiting these parks then, you weren't seeing these amazing designs that are just more or less nonexistent in the landscape. So I really wanted to find a way to bring all these to life and let people kind of go down memory lane if they did experience them back in the day.
MCCAMMON: And a big feature of this book is not just, you know, the photos of these natural places but also the design of some of these pieces of memorabilia - you know, that blocky font a lot of people have probably seen on national park brochures.
KELLEY: Yep.
MCCAMMON: What is it about the design that you find compelling?
KELLEY: Well, I feel as though, with the design aspect of these maps, you go from, you know, really traditional, romantic typefaces and the black-and-white photography, you know, all the way up to Ansel Adams. And then you have the introduction, I think, of advancements in design within the design community as far as, like, that design technology. And so you had this moment in the '60s where people were able to really start experimenting with new technologies, and you can see that transition happen within these maps when you start to look through them all.
MCCAMMON: Do you have a favorite place? The national park system is so vast, but as you think about everything in this collection, is there a place that's most important to you?
KELLEY: Yeah. I talk about it in my essay for the book, where it's probably Olympic National Park. That was the first time I had ever seen big trees in my life, and that was just something that I think kind of blew my mind. It allows you to have a pullback moment of, like, I'm looking, and I'm standing next to this 800- to 2,000-year-old tree. And, like, you can't even comprehend it.
MCCAMMON: Now, these essays are another big feature of this book, sprinkled in with all of these photos of landscapes and of memorabilia that we mentioned. How did you decide who to include in this book?
KELLEY: It was people that I knew made a career out of the outdoors and were incredibly passionate about it and people, I think, that could also, like, help inspire others to take interest and try to go on an adventure or try a new hobby, whether it was rock climbing or photography.
MCCAMMON: Now, Brian, before I let you go, as we look ahead to the new year, I have to ask. Are there any big trips to national parks that you're planning or excited about?
KELLEY: I'm hopefully going to be planning a trip up to Adirondack Park. It's not a national park, but I'm hoping to get up there and photograph some of the oldest and largest Eastern white pines in the country.
MCCAMMON: That's Brian Kelley, the photographer behind the new book "Parks 2." Thanks so much for your time.
KELLEY: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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