Hyde, Philip. Drylands: The Deserts of North America by Philip Hyde.

Park Lane, 1987, 1990. Text and photographs in color by Philip Hyde. Reprint.  Originally published at $75. Hardcover, fine with fine protected dust jacket, like new.  Chapters on The Painted Desert, The Great Basin Desert, The Mojave Desert, The Sonoran Desert, and The Chihuahuan Desert, with other related texts. 179 pages. Approximately 13 x 15 inches. Photocopy of obituary of Philip Hyde from the New York Times laid in. Known as a “conservation photographer,” Hyde died at age 84 in 2006.  He was the primary photographer for the Sierra Club and helped prevent two dams being built in the Grand Canyon.  He published 15 books and contributed to 70 others. Hyde studied photography at the California School of Fine Arts, now the San Francisco Art Institute, under Edward Weston, Imogen Cunningham, Dorothea Lange, and others who taught there. Most of the landscape photographs in this book were taken in Nevada, California, Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico with Hyde’s favorite field camera, a Deardorff 4x5, on Ektachrome film.  Summary:

Published in 1987, "Drylands: The Deserts of North America" is a landmark large-format photography book featuring the work of Philip Hyde, one of the most influential conservation photographers of the 20th century. The book serves as both an aesthetic tribute and an ecological plea for the protection of North America’s arid regions.

Key Features and Content

• Comprehensive Geographic Scope: The book meticulously documents the five distinct desert regions of North America: the Great Basin, the Mohave, the Chihuahuan, the Sonoran, and the Painted Desert.

• The "Intimate Landscape": Unlike many of his contemporaries who focused solely on grand, sweeping vistas, Hyde was a master of the "intimate landscape." His color photography emphasizes the subtle textures of sandstone, the intricate patterns of desert flora, and the vibrant, shifting hues of canyon walls.

• Scientific and Narrative Depth: The photographs are accompanied by text (often with contributions from naturalists like Yva Momatiuk and John Eastcott) that explains the biological and geological uniqueness of these ecosystems, moving beyond the stereotype of deserts as "wastelands."

Conservation Impact

Hyde’s work in Drylands was instrumental in shifting public perception of deserts from barren, empty spaces to fragile, biodiverse environments worthy of federal protection. As a long-time collaborator with the Sierra Club, Hyde used this volume to advocate for the wilderness values of the American West.

Comparison to Other Works

While Eliot Porter pioneered color nature photography, Hyde’s Drylands is often cited for its technical precision and its role in the "Exhibits Format" series that helped pass major environmental legislation, including the Wilderness Act.