Trekking: Delve into "The Great Wide Open" with Gestalten

Man isn’t meant to stay indoors — our weekly “Trekking” column can attest to that. It’s a column dedicated to the adventurer inside of all of us, the one pining to ditch the office humdrum for a quick surf session or seven-week jaunt in the Grand Tetons. One day we may highlight an ultra-light stove and the next a set of handmade canoe paddles. Life doesn’t just happen inside the workplace, so get outside and live it.

The realm of outdoor photography isn’t particularly spare, but nonetheless, it’s always been peppered with notable standouts. These photographs— whether talking the contemporary work of David Muench or the many iconic images Ansel Adams captured during his 1930s heyday — serve as visual testaments to the awe-inspiring planet we call home, ones that promote conversation efforts while continually fueling our desire to leave civilization and the claustrophobic cityscape behind us in the rear-view mirror.

thegreatwideopen_press_p206-207 As one of the latest in Gestalten’s tabletop book series, The Great Wide Open ($68), continues to explore our ongoing relationship man has with nature. It’s a remarkable collection of images from a select group of a photographers, encompassing everywhere from Mongolia and Australia to Iceland and Peru (and everywhere in between). Renowned photographers like Chris Burkard and Julian Bialowas catapult you through the dense forests of Canada and warmly lit canyons of the southwestern United States, while the likes of Sophie Radcliffe and others showcase distant mountain peaks and glimpses of northern Germany. Moreover, the glossy-paged book is dotted with the stories behind several of the photos, thus giving you some insight and perspective on just what it takes to exist in some of these rugged expanses of wilderness. Hint: it takes more than a little ambition.