PROJECT SUMMARY

For the first time, a photographer is entering Yosemite as the WPA documentary photographers of the 1930s might, with a shifted priority on people rather than on nature.
–Carol McCusker, PhD
Curator of Photography, Harn Museum of Art

Glacier Point 10/2014

According to the National Park Service, Yosemite National Park has more than four million annual visitors, supported by thousands of local rangers, workers, and volunteers. This makes Yosemite a shifting metropolis. “I was inspired to explore this ‘city’ and bring my street photography to the wilderness,” Kulikauskas states.

Kulikauskas visited Yosemite nineteen times over the course of two years. He confined the project to the formal boundaries of the park and did not have special access or privileges. In order to experience the full breadth of the park, he
investigated a wide variety of public places. His objective was to capture it all: crowds clamoring to catch the perfect selfie at Tunnel View, couples kissing at
Glacier Point, and families cooling off in Tenaya Creek. He went horseback riding to Mirror Lake, took a tram tour around Mariposa Grove, and went skiing at
Badger Pass. He hiked the seventeen-mile loop and pulled himself up six hundred feet of steel cables to the summit of Half Dome.

PROJECT NOTES

TERRITORY

Within the formal boundaries of Yosemite National Park.

SUBJECTS

Visitors, workers, volunteers, rangers, and residents of all ages.

TIME PERIOD

Nineteen visits (1–5 days) between January 2014 and May 2016

PHOTOGRAPHY GEAR

  • Camera: Leica M6
  • Lens: f/2.0 Summicron 50mm
  • Film: Kodak TMAX 400, 35mm
  • Photographs taken: 5,000 (approx. 140 rolls of film)

DISTANCE TRAVELED

  • Seven thousand miles (approx.)
  • Home base: Sierra Madre, California
  • Distance to Yosemite from Home Base: 285 miles
  • Time to reach southern entrance: five hours (approx.)
  • Time to reach Yosemite Village: six hours (approx.)

PLACES STAYED

  • Yosemite Valley
  • Curry Village (tent-cabin, cabin)
  • Yosemite Lodge at the Falls
  • Wawona Hotel (Main Building, Moore Cottage, Annex)
  • Ahwahnee Hotel (cabin)
  • Upper Pines Campground (back of pick-up truck)
  • Housekeeping Camp
  • Tioga Pass
  • White Wolf Lodge (tent-cabin)
  • Glen Aulin High Sierra Camp (tent-cabin)
  • Tuolumne Meadows lodge (tent-cabin)
  • Outside Yosemite
  • Best Western, Oakhurst, California
  • Tenaya Lodge, Fish Camp, California

2016 YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK NAME CHANGES

  • Yosemite Lodge at the Falls: Yosemite Valley Lodge
  • The Ahwahnee Hotel: The Majestic Yosemite Hotel
  • Curry Village: Half Dome Village
  • Wawona Hotel: Big Trees Lodge
  • Badger Pass Ski Area: Yosemite Ski & Snowboard Area

FUNDING

  • Winter of 2016: Yosemite People, the book, was funded through a Kickstarter campaign (112% of goal at $22,197). See the campaign by clicking here.
  • Fall of 2014: Samsung Faculty Enrichment Grant from ArtCenter College of Design specifically for Yosemite People. This funded 3 months travel, darkroom chemicals, supplies, and photographic paper.
  • Spring of 2014: Faculty stipend from ArtCenter College of Design to observe and learn from native artists in Yosemite Valley. This funded a two night stay and the opportunity to take photographs for this project.