Photo from A YEAR OF IOWA NATURE, by Carl Kurtz

Need some green today? This photo is of a prairie spiderwort in bloom. See more photos like this one in Carl Kurtz's book, A Year of Iowa Nature: Discovering Where We Live.

Photo from A YEAR OF IOWA NATURE, by Carl Kurtz

Missing spring? In this photo, a walnut tree sprouts new leaves. See more in Carl Kurtz's book, A Year of Iowa Nature: Discovering Where We Live.

Photo from A YEAR OF IOWA NATURE, by Carl Kurtz

Monarch butterflies migrate in spring and spread across over one billion acres by the end of their migration cycle. See more photos like this one in Carl Kurtz's book, A Year of Iowa Nature: Discovering Where We Live.

Photo from A YEAR OF IOWA NATURE, by Carl Kurtz

In this photo, a whitetail doe and her fawn stand underneath a small tree. See more photos like this in Carl Kurtz's book, A Year of Iowa Nature: Discovering Where We Live.

Interview with Carl Kurtz, pt. 2

UI Press editor, Holly Carver, sat down with Carl Kurtz to ask him a few questions about the inspiration for his book and his life as a photographer. Check back Monday to read the conclusion of the interview!

HC: You sifted through some, what, five hundred photos to select the photos in this book. How did you make your decisions? 

CK: I tried to select things that seemed to best represent the season and time of year. 

HC: The subtitle of your book is “Discovering Where We Live.” What does this mean to you? 

CK: It means that we need to live in the present and be able to enjoy the world of nature every day, not just occasionally or on a vacation.

HC: After all these years of paying close attention to weekly images, what have you learned? 

CK: One continues to learn about the connectedness of all life forms and their importance in sustaining life. 

HC: I have a particular fondness for your photos of birds, followed by your panoramic landscapes. What do you most enjoy photographing? 

CK: Birds are always a challenge, but I enjoy the pursuit of everything in nature, since it nearly always reveals something new to you.

HC: I’ve been the grateful recipient of your photo essays for years. How can others sign up?

CK: I can add an e-mail address to my address book, or you can check carlkurtz.tumblr.com/.webloc, which is an archive of past weeks. 

Interview with Carl Kurtz, pt. 1

The University of Iowa Press is proud to announce the release of our newest Bur Oak Book, A Year of Iowa Nature: Discovering Where We Live, by Carl Kurtz!

Praise
"Carl Kurtz is a photographer who blooms where he is rooted. He puts into words and images what people who love nature and the Midwest wish they could say and do. Each image and comment provides something to think about beyond the week they were originally shared."—Linda and Robert Scarth, authors, Deep Nature: Photographs from Iowa

UI Press editor, Holly Carver, sat down with Carl Kurtz to ask him a few questions about the inspiration for his book and his life as a photographer. Check back Monday to read the conclusion of the interview!

Holly Carver: You’ve been sending out a nature photo and a short essay every week for more than eight years. How did this start? 

Carl Kurtz: This began as a means to share observations with others and to encourage them to look more carefully at the world we live in. 

HC: Is it hard, some weeks, to find a worthy subject? If you have more than one candidate, how do you decide which to feature? 

CK: Some weeks, it is difficult to locate a suitable subject and other weeks, I may have half a dozen or more. I try to use what is most characteristic for that time of year and, if possible, something new that I have not used before.