Harrison R. Crandall was the first official Grand Teton National Park photographer and served as a resident artist from the 1920s until the 1960s. Professor and author Kenneth A. Barrick will provide insight into Crandall’s art and tenure as park photographer during a public event on Thursday, Sept. 5 at 5 p.m. in the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center auditorium.

Harrison “Hank” Crandall homesteaded in Jackson Hole in 1922. As a master photographer, fine-art painter and early concessionaire, Crandall was a fervent supporter of Grand Teton National Park until his death in 1970. In fact, he was the first resident artist in the valley and ran two Crandall Studios for decades: one at Jenny Lake (now the Jenny Lake Visitor Center) and the other at the former town of Moran near the shore of Jackson Lake.

Crandall is best known for his landscape photos and oil paintings of the Teton Range, hand-painted wildflower photographs, and images of ranch life in Jackson Hole—including cowboys and cowgirls, according to a statement released by the park’s public affairs office.

Barrick will discuss his new book, “Harrison R. Crandall: Creating a Vision of Grand Teton National Park.” Crandall’s daughter and son-in-law, Quita and Herb Pownall, and other family members will join Barrick during a book signing after the presentation. A second book signing will take place on September 9 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Jenny Lake Visitor Center.

The event “offers a wonderful opportunity to discover the important contributions made to fine art, photography and Grand Teton National Park by one of Jackson Hole’s early artist/photographers,” said Jan Lynch, executive director of Grand Teton Association, co-sponsor of the discussion.

Lynch said the presentation will “be a rare chance to meet Harrison Crandall’s family and learn about their personal history with Grand Teton.”

As a professor with the Department of Geography at the University of Alaska- Fairbanks for the past 28 years, Barrick specialized in teaching natural resource management and physical geography, and he conducted research in the Rocky Mountains, including studies in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.

For over 10 years, he has also done extensive research on Harrison Crandall’s contributions to the art of national parks.