Renowned Colorado nature photographer and longtime environmentalist John Fielder died Friday after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 73.
In January, Fielder donated some 6,000 photos — edited down from more than about 200,000 negatives and digital scans — he had taken since 1973 to History Colorado. His personally selected life works are archived at the state’s official historical society and part of the public domain.
“I have decided to donate my life’s work of photography to you, the people of Colorado,” Fielder said in a bylined opinion-piece published in The Denver Post on Jan. 20.
“Humanity will not survive without the preservation of biodiversity on Earth, and I have been honored to use my photography to influence people and legislation to protect our natural and rural environments,” Fielder said in the editorial. “I am humbled that these photos have spurred the passage of the 1992 Great Outdoors Colorado Trust Fund Initiative and Congress’ Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 among other land protection projects across this state that I love.”
The Summit Daily News on Saturday first reported Fielder’s death.
Over the years Fielder has covered all of Colorado’s 104,094 square miles photographing varied landscapes. His art was born of a passion for the outdoors and a willingness to endure a variety of challenges, including vehicle breakdowns above timberline, rafts flipping in white water and bears bulling into his camp.
Diagnosed with cancer in 2022, Fielder focused on reviewing his life’s work and his mission: helping Coloradans respect nature, most urgently by slowing global warming and stopping environmental destruction.
Born Aug. 2, 1950, in Washington D.C., Fielder’s family moved to North Carolina in 1960, the same year he began taking photographs with a Kodak Brownie box camera. While attending Duke University, Fielder worked as a junior geologist in Colorado and neighboring states in 1969 and 1970. He graduated from Duke in 1972, moved to Colorado and initially worked in real estate. In 1978, Fielder married Virginia “Gigi” Yonkers. In 1981, Fielder left his position as manager at a May D&F store in the Denver area to begin his professional photography career, and he published his first Colorado photo calendar. Fielder founded Westcliffe Publishers in 1982, and his first book, “Colorado’s Hidden Valleys,” was published. Forty years later, he has produced some 50 photo book collections, with about 1 million copies sold.
One book — “Colorado: 1870 to 2000” — explores 19th century photos by William Henry Jackson, who was sent by the U.S. Geological Survey to photograph western territories at a time when Colorado had 39,864 residents. Fielder photographed the sites of Jackson’s work and created a side-by-side comparison at the start of the 21st century — when Colorado had 4.3 million residents. Fielder dedicated the book to the people of Colorado, urging them to “examine our relationship with the land,” declaring “there is no more beautiful place on Earth than Colorado” and “very few places more fragile.” A second volume of the work also was published.
The photographs donated to History Colorado document 28 mountain ranges, 44 federal wilderness areas and 11 national forests, in addition to other landscapes, parks, ranches and trails in each of Colorado’s 64 counties.
History Colorado’s exhibition “REVEALED: John Fielder’s Favorite Place,” takes viewers to a location that few have experienced, a location John feels is most sublime in all of Colorado. Gov. Jared Polis, who saw Fielder at the exhibition opening in July, released a statement Saturday.
“I am saddened by the loss of John Fielder, who captured Colorado’s iconic beauty during his 50 years as a nature photographer. His unique talent and work allowed him to showcase our state to millions across the world, and he will be dearly missed,” Polis said. “My condolences to his family and friends. I hope that we can all follow his example to appreciate and preserve our outdoor lands.”
Fielder has been recognized with multiple awards, including: the Daniel L. Ritchie Award for Ethical Behavior and Social Responsibility, University of Denver, 1992; Ansel Adams Award for Conservation Photography, Sierra Club, 1993; Rocky Mountain National Park Stewardship Award, 1995; and Lifetime Achievement Award, Colorado Film Commission, 2007.
Fielder is survived by daughters Ashley and Katy and six grandchildren, according to the Summit Daily. He lost Gigi to Alzheimer’s disease in 2005 and their son J.T. to suicide in 2006. Fielder had made Summit County his home since 2006.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Sierra Club, Conservation Colorado, Colorado Open Lands and Save the Colorado. A private memorial will be held in the future.
