Views you can use

As the mountains rise and fall along the 469-mile length of the Blue Ridge Parkway from Cherokee, N.C., to Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, one might look out upon the landscape and wonder just what it is that one sees. A shift in elevation or distance traveled dramatically changes one’s perspective, and weather conditions are the difference between seeing for miles or meters.

Such obstacles have limited our mountains’ identification on a horizontal plane—most mountain maps are topographic and thus viewed from the top down, but that’s not how we tend to view the landscape. Photographer Tim Barnwell has released a work five years in the making, “Blue Ridge Parkway Vistas,” which features sweeping panoramic views and labels the mountains they include.

The book is a valuable contribution to the region for its practical knowledge and geographic clarifications presented in a user friendly and aesthetically pleasing format. Barnwell’s work challenges common notions about the lay of the land—and a few government-made signs.

“Blue Ridge Parkway Vistas” is strongly recommended for anyone who has sought to appreciate the Parkway as a journey rather than just a road and its overlooks as windows through which we see both our past and future.

About Tim Barnwell

Tim Barnwell grew up in Western North Carolina, earning his reputation as a photographer of record most notably through his intimate portraits of the region’s lives and landscapes in “The Face of Appalachia, Portraits from the Mountain Farm;” “On Earths Furrowed Brow: The Appalachian Farm in Photographs;” and “Hands in Harmony: Traditional Crafts and Music in Appalachia.” Visit barnwellphoto.com or call 828.251.0040 for information about books, prints, workshops, and shows. His works are now on display in Asheville and Highlands, N.C., Portsmouth, Va., and Newark, N.J.