Biography:QT Luong

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QT Luong
Born
Quang-Tuan Luong

Paris, France
NationalityFrench, American
Known forPhotography, Computer Vision

QT Luong (born 1964) is a French-Vietnamese born American photographer known for his work in the U.S. National Parks,[1] as well as for work in the theory of computer vision. In 2022, Luong received the Ansel Adams Award for Conservation Photography from the Sierra Club.[2]

Early life and career

Luong was born in Paris of Vietnamese parents and graduated from École Polytechnique. He earned a Ph.D. in computer science at University of Paris-Sud in 1992. His thesis, in computer vision,[3] introduced the concepts of Fundamental matrix and camera auto-calibration. In 2008, together with Olivier Faugeras and Steve Maybank, he received the initial Koenderink Prize, for fundamental contributions in computer vision.[4] Luong left his career as a research scientist at SRI International to become a full-time photographer in 2007.[1]

Photography of the National Parks

While in school, Luong had developed an interest in photography as a means to capture his mountaineering outings.[5] They would include climbs of difficult frozen waterfalls[6] and a solo ascent of Denali.[7]

After moving to California to work at UC Berkeley in 1993, influenced by the West Coast landscape photography tradition, he learned to use large format cameras, and in the process created the website largeformatphotography.info. His growing interest for large format photography and the exhilaration of discovering the diversity of the U.S. national parks inspired him to try to photograph each of them with a large format 5x7 film camera. He made his permanent home in California. By 2002 he had photographed all the (then) 57 national parks and was the first to do so.[8][9]

He has since continued to work in the national parks in great depth using his uncommon wilderness skills,[10][11] creating a singularly comprehensive record of America's landscape. The New York Times wrote of him:[12]

 No one has captured the vast beauty of America’s landscape as comprehensively 

In 2013, he was the first to photograph all the 59 national parks.[1][13] He continued that streak in 2018, when Gateway Arch was established as the 60th national park[14] and again in 2019 when Indiana Dunes was established as the 61st national park[15][16] and White Sands was established as the 62nd national park.[17] As of 2019, Luong continues to use a large format film camera to photograph the national parks. He is the only person known to have photographed each of the U.S. national parks on film.[18]

In 2009, Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan featured him as the only living artist in The National Parks: America’s Best Idea[19] and used his photograph Yosemite, Winter Sunset for the series' cover. In 2016, the U.S. Postal Service used his photograph of the Little Missouri River winding through the badlands of North Dakota’s Theodore Roosevelt National Park on a stamp celebrating the National Park Service’s Centennial,[20][21] and in 2023 they featured three of his photographs in a series of postage stamps celebrating waterfalls.[22]

In 2020, Luong received the Robin W. Winks Award for Enhancing Public Understanding of National Parks from the National Parks Conservation Association.[23]

Photography of the National Monuments

In 2018, as a reaction to the review of national monuments via Executive Order 13792 and the subsequent reductions in size of Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, Luong embarked on a project to photograph all the 22 national monuments on land under review, resulting in the publication in 2021 of the book Our National Monuments: America's Hidden Gems.[24] The book was a winner of the National Outdoor Book Awards in 2022.[25]

Exhibits and Publications

Luong organized the only exhibition featuring one large-format color photograph for each of the national parks.[26] After debuting in 2010 at the National Heritage Museum[27][28][29] it traveled across the country [30] [31] [32][33][34] and in 2019 started touring internationally in China at the Li Yuan Photographic Art Museum in Ningbo.[35]

In 2016, to celebrate the National Park Service's Centennial, Luong published his major book Treasured Lands: A Photographic Odyssey through America’s National Parks. It received positive reviews, with some considering it to be the best photography book about the national parks,[36][12][7] and won several national book awards[37] including the Benjamin Franklin Award[38] from the Independent Book Publishers Association, the Independent Publisher Book Awards,[39] and the Nautilus Book Awards.[40]

Books

  • The Geometry of Multiple Images: The Laws That Govern the Formation of Multiple Images of a Scene and Some of Their Applications MIT Press 2001 ISBN:978-0262062206
  • Spectacular Yosemite Universe 2011 ISBN:978-0789322241
  • America's Fifty-Nine National Parks True North Editions 2016 ISBN:978-1943013036
  • Treasured Lands: A Photographic Odyssey through America's National Parks Cameron and Company 2016 ISBN:978-1944903008
  • Our National Monuments: America's Hidden Gems Terra Galleria Press 2021 ISBN: 978-1733576079

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 "San Jose photographer captures images of all 59 national parks". 24 June 2017. https://www.mercurynews.com/2017/06/23/san-jose-photographer-captures-images-of-all-59-national-parks/. 
  2. "Sierra Club Announces 2022 National Award Winners". 21 September 2022. https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2022/09/sierra-club-announces-2022-national-award-winners. 
  3. Q.T. Luong (1992). Matrice fondamentale et auto-calibration en vision par ordinateur. PhD Thesis, University of Paris, Orsay.
  4. "ECCV 2008 - European Conference on Computer Vision". http://eccv2008.inrialpes.fr/awards.html. 
  5. Souvenirs from High Places, A History of Mountaineering Photography by Joe Benson, The Mountaineers, pp 138-139, 1998
  6. "North America, Canada, Various Ice Ascents". 1997. http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12199720600/North-America-Canada-Various-Ice-Ascents. 
  7. 7.0 7.1 "An inside look at the national parks". 13 December 2016. http://www.hcn.org/issues/48.22/Treasured-Lands-National-Parks-Yosemite-Photos. 
  8. View Camera Magazine, Quang-Tuan Luong: The National Parks Project, by Kerry Thalmann, Sept-Oct 2003
  9. Feinberg, Jody. "Photographer captures the beauty of America's national parks". http://www.patriotledger.com/x1306273171/Photographer-captures-the-beauty-of-Americas-national-parks. 
  10. "An Expert Take on the Parks: QT Luong". 3 August 2013. https://www.theactivetimes.com/expert-take-parks-qt-luong. 
  11. "Transient As The Light - Outdoor Photographer". https://www.outdoorphotographer.com/on-location/featured-stories/transient-as-the-light/. 
  12. 12.0 12.1 Browning, Dominique (1 December 2016). "Great Outdoors: Landscapes, Both Natural and Created by Human Hands". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/01/books/review/great-outdoors-landscapes-both-natural-and-created-by-human-hands.html. 
  13. Treasured Lands: A Photographic Odyssey through American's National Park, page 69
  14. "Renowned photographer travels to St. Louis to capture Gateway Arch National Park". 12 March 2018. https://www.stlmag.com/design/photographer-who-captured-gateway-arch-national-park/. 
  15. "Photographer stalls printing of book to get images of Indiana Dunes, America's newest national park". 21 February 2019. https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-luong-dunes-photography-st-0221-story.html. 
  16. "National Park Photographer Completes His Portfolio with Visit to Indiana Dunes". 5 March 2019. https://news.wttw.com/2019/03/05/national-park-photographer-completes-his-portfolio-visit-indiana-dunes. 
  17. "Photographer captures newest national park". 24 December 2019. https://www.abqjournal.com/1404056. 
  18. "Photographer completes mission to capture every national park on film (again)". 27 February 2019. https://wgntv.com/2019/02/27/photographer-completes-mission-to-capture-every-national-park-on-film-again/. 
  19. "The National Parks: America's Best Idea: People - PBS". http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/people/. 
  20. "Theodore Roosevelt National Park part of centennial celebration". http://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2016/pr16_031.htm. 
  21. "QT Luong - San Jose Photographer - Tribute to Americas National Parks - Photography - Nature - Silicon Valley - Metroactive". http://www.metroactive.com/features/QT-Luong-San-Jose-Photographer-Tribute-to-Americas-National-Parks-Photography-Nature.html. 
  22. https://starexponent.com/news/national-parks-photographer-immortalizes-dark-hollow-falls-on-forever-stamp/article_f8a83328-0e9b-11ee-a548-bb756f5a396c.html
  23. "Awards and Recognition". https://www.npca.org/resources/3286-awards-and-recognition. 
  24. "New book a ‘monument’ to preserved wildlands in Southern California and beyond - Daily Bulletin". https://www.dailybulletin.com/2021/11/18/new-book-a-monument-to-preserved-wildlands-in-southern-california-and-beyond/. 
  25. http://www.noba-web.org/books22.htm
  26. Cheng, Jay. "Like an Asian American Ansel Adams". https://www.thebaycitybeacon.com/culture/like-an-asian-american-ansel-adams-abacus/article_bd6a143c-bf61-11e7-9a75-cfee045de76e.html. 
  27. "This land is our land". Boston.com. http://archive.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2010/03/01/treasured_lands_exhibit_highlights_national_parks_photos_by_quang_tuan_luong/. 
  28. Feeney, Mark (26 March 2010). "America the beautiful". Boston.com. http://archive.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2010/03/26/in_treasured_lands_large_scale_photos_capture_the_national_parks_in_all_their_glory/. 
  29. Bergeron, Chris. "Explore U.S. National Parks through National Heritage Museum exhibit". http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/x1514354542/Explore-U-S-National-Parks-through-National-Heritage-Museum-exhibit. 
  30. "Museum of Science exhibit captures US National Parks on a large scale - The Boston Globe". https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/2016/04/14/museum-science-exhibit-captures-national-parks-large-scale/dz8dGtBJXioN0OL9yA4RmN/story.html. 
  31. Morsch, Mike. "Picture perfect: 'Treasured Lands' photo exhibit featured at Meadow Lakes". http://www.centraljersey.com/news/windsor_hights_herald/picture-perfect-treasured-lands-photo-exhibit-featured-at-meadow-lakes/article_41188232-d9a3-11e6-a295-97986dd16317.html. 
  32. "Treasured Lands: Photographs of National Parks by Q.T. Luong at Art Ark Gallery, San Jose - Artinfo". http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/2264711/treasured-lands-photographs-of-national-parks-by-qt-luong-at. 
  33. "Photographer spent years cataloging beauty in national parks". 15 November 2017. http://www.sfchronicle.com/art/article/Photographer-spent-years-cataloging-beauty-in-12359809.php. 
  34. "Like photography? Why you'll find a lot of it all over Modesto in February". http://www.modbee.com/entertainment/article196513829.html. 
  35. "他把美国国家公园拍了个遍,这个风光摄影展不可错过". https://h5.newaircloud.com/news_detail?newsid=7467154_yzxwl. 
  36. "Treasured Lands: A Photographic Odyssey Through America's National Parks". http://independentpublisher.com/review.php?page=3605. 
  37. "Treasured Lands - A Photographic Odyssey through America's National Parks". http://TreasuredLandsBook.com. 
  38. "29th Annual IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award™ Winners - Independent Book Publishers Association". http://www.ibpa-online.org/news/335541/29th-Annual-IBPA-Benjamin-Franklin-Award-Winners.htm. 
  39. Awards, IPPY. "2017 Medalists". http://www.ippyawards.com/125/medalists/2017-medalists. 
  40. "2016 Silver Winners – Nautilus Book Awards". http://nautilusbookawards.com/2016-silver-winners/. 

External links