Forces of nature: George Henry exhibits focus on wildlife, wild lands

By Diana Nollen

CEDAR RAPIDS - Photographer George Henry, 87, has built a 60-year career on artistry and luck.

When a female loon rose from her nest to roll her eggs, Henry was quick with a click to capture the seldom-seen scene. Another time, he spied a beaver flapping its tail. Click.

The biggest challenge of nature photography “is being someplace where nature is performing,” says Henry, who has lived all his life in Cedar Rapids, but has traveled the world with a camera in hand. “You can find nature anyplace, but nature doesn't always perform. ...

“You have to be in the right place and the sun has to be right. An awful lot of luck enters into photography of that type and you have to be prepared for it,” he says.

Henry is well-known locally for freezing moments in time for Coe College, area sporting events and Cedar Rapids scenes. But when you step into his current exhibit in the Marvin Cone Gallery at Coe College, the first things you see are placid lions and a charging elephant - shot up close with a wide-angle lens, not from afar with a telephoto lens.

Observing nature at a safe distance isn't part of the vocabulary for this hardy soul who spent more than 45 years as a boatman, navigating white-water rivers in the American Southwest. Stroll across the hall in Coe's Sinclair Auditorium and you'll see dramatic waterfalls and rugged landscapes from those adventures unfold in the Eaton-Buchan Gallery.

Few of these photos have been seen by the general public.

“Everybody thinks I only shoot black-and-white stuff on campus,” Henry says.

And with good cause.

“I've shot between 120,000 and 140,000 black-and-white photos on campus,” he says, pausing. “I have shot a lot.”

Vibrant colors in scenes dramatic and pastoral are the hallmark of his “Collection of Nature and Scenery” exhibit, on display through May 23, 2010.

More of Henry's photos will be featured at The Carl & Mary Koehler History Center a few blocks away from May 28 through fall 2010. “A Lifetime Behind the Camera” will include rarely seen photos from Henry's white-water rafting experiences with the Kennedys, as well as shots from his early years, up to his December 2009 excursion to South Africa.

The animal photos are especially striking in his Coe exhibit, from polar bears playing in the Arctic Circle to butterflies, a panda and water buffaloes.

The landscapes create a different sense of wonder - endless seas of flowers, drifting snow and rugged terrain. Some are moody, some are bright.

Each is worth a thousand words.

“Bears act just like people, but you have to respect them and know they are wild animals,” he says, pointing to photos of black cubs climbing up a tree and lounging on a limb on a wildlife preserve in northern Minnesota, where Henry and his wife, Kay, spend their summers. “When you're out with a mother and babies and the babies pull on your pant leg, you're a little too close.”

On the recent South African jaunt, he spent an hour and 15 minutes close to a lion, the lioness it was courting and its 5-year-old son.

“They completely ignored us,” Henry says, which is reflected in the casual, peaceful photos.

He hasn't gone digital, preferring to use a 35 mm Minolta camera. His photos are printed in Cedar Rapids and in shops around the country, but he does the matting and framing. Most are 16 inches by 20 or 24 inches, but a few are 20 by 30 inches.

“I can't afford to have anyone else mount them,” he says with a laugh.

Having recently photographed his 63rd commencement for his alma mater, Coe College, he has no intentions of quitting this work he loves so well.

Next stop: the Galapagos Islands in the fall, where nature performs full time.

FAST TAKEInformation: www.historycenter.org/exhibits.html

What: George Henry photography exhibits

Title: “Collection of Nature and Scenery”

When: 3 to 5 p.m. May 20 to 23, 2010

Where: Marvin Cone and Eaton-Buchan Galleries, Sinclair Auditorium, Coe College, 1220 First Ave. NE, Cedar Rapids

Features: Animals, landscapes and flowers from Henry's travels near and far

Admission: Free

Information: (319) 399-8581

Title: “A Lifetime Behind the Camera”

When: May 28 through fall; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays

Where: The Carl & Mary Koehler History Center, 615 First Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids

Features: Henry's early career, Monument Valley, Coe College, white-water rafting with the Kennedys, Linn County history and recent adventures in South Africa

Admission: Free; donations accepted

Opening reception: 5 to 7 p.m. May 28, 2010