Jerry-1978

GeoArts was founded in 1985 by the late Jerry Derbyshire, to publish, produce, distribute, and promote his photography and collaborations with other artists. 

 

Much of the foundation of Jerry’s love for nature and photography was set from the woods and frog ponds of his youth. After graduating in geology from Ohio State University in 1970, photography became his passion and his excuse to travel. 

 

Jerry’s sojourns took him from the Lesser Antilles to the British Isles and from Alaska to Hawaii. In 1973 he hiked for six months end-to-end on the Appalachian Trail. Enduring wet and cold, bland, limited food, and hoards of biting insects, Jerry felt that the sacrifices were proportional to the rewards.

 

Jerry’s Hawaii photography was featured and appeared on the premiere issue of Outside magazine in 1977. A story he wrote and photographed about Waimea Canyon was featured in Mariah magazine the following year.

 

Another earth temple, the Grand Canyon, inspired his collaboration with best-selling author, Edward Abbey. The feature appeared as the cover story of Outside in 1980. In 1986, Jerry teamed up with another best-selling author, the distinguished marine-biologist and anthropologist, Dr. Lyall Watson. The Water Planet tells the story of water’s role in Earth’s creation – how it has shaped civilizations, influenced religions, and inspired artists of every kind. The Water Planet was published by Crown Publishers in 1988. 

 

Four editions of The World Guide to Nude Beaches and Recreation, published by The Naturists Society in Oshgosh, Wisconsin, feature many of Jerry’s nature nudes. “I like to use nudes as metaphor in my photographs. Not only to provide scale to a scene, but to impart a sense of humility and nature’s power, of humankind’s real place in the scheme of life on Earth. I want my pictures to plead for essential harmony.”

 

Jerry contributed his efforts and images the the American Sunbathing Association’s 1990 Park Guide (now the American Association for Nude Recreation) and is featured in subsequent issues. His work has been frequently featured in the Naturist Society’s quarterly and has appeared on several covers.

 

“Travel, nature and photography are so fundamental to my life that I can’t think of my life without them. I hope that my photographs will enhance and provoke people’s perception, respect and appreciation of our home – Earth.” 

 

As the trustee of the Jerry Derbyshire Collection of Color Photography Trust, I am happy to make available to you Jerry's wonderful images for commercial use, fine art prints and other products. Please contact me with any questions or requests you may have. This web site will be an on-going project as I add images. I have several thousand wonderful images available so please let me know if you have a certain request.

 

Thank you.

Barb Berens 

 


 

Biography

Jerry Derbyshire

January 5, 1948 - December 15, 1989

 

EDUCATION

Bachelor of Science degree in geology from 

Ohio State University in 1970.

 

BOOKS

‘The Water Planet - A Celebration of the Wonder of Water’ - The story of water’s role in earth’s creation, text by Lyall Watson, published by Crown Publishing in 1988.

 

PUBLICATIONS

Contributing photographs for articles:

 

‘A Walk on the Wild Side’ - WomenSports magazine, text by Alice Derbyshire, July 1976.

 

‘Paradise Found and Lost on Kauai’ - Outside magazine, text by Michael Rodgers, premiere issue, August/September 1977. (cover and article)

 

‘The Grand Canyon of the Pacific’ - Mariah magazine, text by Jerry Derbyshire, November 1978.

 

‘What’s So Special About Rainbows?’ - Outside magazine, text Janet Hopson, June/July 1979.

 

‘Hidden Corners of the Grand Canyon’ - Outside magazine, text by Edward Abbey, Access and Resources by Jerry Derbyshire, February/March 1980. (cover and article)

 

‘The Fluttering Fig Leaf’ - MD Journal, text by Robert Bahr, October 1983.

 

‘Dispatches: Nature’ - Outside magazine, text by David Schonauer, October 1983.

 

‘Last Frame’ - Outdoor Photographer magazine , August 1987.

 

Other publications, contributions and covers:

 

‘The World Guide to Nude Beaches and Recreation’ - text by Lee Baxendall, 1st. addition published by Stonehill in 1981, 2nd. edition published by Harmony Books in 1981, 1983, and 1988. (Chief color contributor and covers on all editons)

 

‘The 1990 North American Guide To Nude Recreation’ - published by the American Sunbathing Association in 1989.

(cover, chief photographer and photo editor)

 

‘Hiking Hawaii - The Big Island’ - text by Robert Smith, published by Wilderness Press in 1977. (cover)

 

Earth Magic - Volume I - 52 color photographs and stories written by Jerry Derbyshire. Published by GeoArts of Austin, Texas in 1985.

 

Zoom Magazine  - 150 Year Anthology - featured as one of the most important photographers in the history of photography in the summer 1989 issue.

 

Zondervan Book Publishing Company - ‘Streams in the Desert’ wall calendar and engagement calendar - 1998

 

Warner Bros. Records Inc. - images used on ‘Ocean Blue’ CD cover - 1991

 

Paul Adams, musician - CD cover images for six albums: ‘Various Waves, Wonder Dancing, A View from the Plain, Energy to Stillness, Property of Water, In The Land Where I Come From’ - 1990-2008

 

 

 

VIDEOS & MULTI-IMAGE PRODUCTIONS

Earth Magic - A Festival of Light - 30 minutes of choreographed color photography illustrating six metaphors, in synchronization with an original New Age music sound track in high fidelity stereo. The music is composed and performed by New York jazz musician Paul Ostermayer.

 

Na Pali - The Rainbow Coast - 30 minutes of choreographed photography illustrating the Na Pali coast and Kalalau Valley of Kauai, Hawaii. No sound track as of this date but we intent to have an original sound track created.

 

Grofe’s Grand Canyon Suite - 10 minutes of choreographed photography illustrating the first piece of Grofe’s Grand Canyon Suite.

 

EXHIBITS

Franklin Institute of Science Museum, Philadelphia, PA - Greenhouse Earth exhibit, 1991

 

The Science Museum of Minnesota - images used in the permanent science hall - 1991

 

“Nudes in Nature”  private collection of Ben Schmidgall - shown in colleges in Illinois, Florida, Syracuse, NY, South Dakota, Minnesota and Pennsylvania - 1993

 

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth - exhibit ‘Naked’, Rainbow Gathering images - 1992

 

EXPERIENCE

1971 - High school teacher at The Selwyn School, Denton, Texas. Taught biology, chemistry, physical science and photography.

 

1972 - 1973 - DBA International Photographs, Fort Worth, Texas. Retail print sales and custom frames distributed by Pier I Imports

 

1973 - Spend the year hiking end-to-end on the Appalachian Trail, Georgia to Maine, 2,200 miles in 180 days..

 

1974 - 1976 - Westinghouse Corporation, Architectural Systems Division, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

 

1977 - 1978 - Shoot three assignments for Outside magazine. Kalalau Valley, Kauai, 1977; The Rainbow Gathering, Gila National Forest, NM, 1977; and Caving, Arkansas Ozarks, 1978.

 

1979 - 1980 - Property manger for Paul J. Vincent Management Company, Austin, Texas.

 

1980- 1984 - Primitive backcountry travel for book series collaboration with Lyall Watson and multi-image projects.

 

1985 - 1989 - DBA GeoArts, Austin, Texas. (1989 - six months travel in the western US to collect photographs for the ASA 1990 Park Guide)

 

PHOTOGRAPHED LOCATIONS

Alaska

Al-Can Highway, Kenali National Park, Glacier Bay National Park.

 

American Southwest

Arizona - Grand Canyon (extensive), Paria and Marble Canyons, Sycamore Canyon Wilderness, Verde River. New Mexico - Chaco Canyon, Gila Wilderness, White Sands National Monument. Texas - central and east. Utah - Arches National Park, Bryce National Park, Esclante Primitive Area, Natural Bridges National Monument, Zion National Park.

 

Appalachians

Blue Ridge Mountains, Mid-Atlantic States, New England.

 

Canada

Banff and Jasper National Parks, Queen Charlotte Islands, Vancouver Island.

 

Caribbean Basin

Lesser Antilles - Antigua, Guadeloupe, Saint Martin. Mexico - The Yucatan Peninsula.

 

Great Britain

England, Scotland, Wales.

 

Great Lakes Region

Lake Huron’s North Channel Islands, Lake Michigan’s shoreline dunes, Lake Superior, Isle Royale.

 

Hawaiian Islands

Hawaii - The Big Island. Kauai - Na Pali Coast and Waimea Canyon.

 

Pacific Coast States

California - Big Sur, Death Valley, Kings Canyon, Point Reyes, Sequoia, Shasta-Trinity Alps, Yosemite. Oregon - Coastal dunes and the coastline, Columbia River Gorge, Kalmiopsis Wilderness, Strawberry Mountains. Washington - Mount Rainier, Olympic Peninsula.

 

Rocky Mountain States

Colorado - Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Collegiate Wilderness, Great Sand Dunes, Holy Cross Wilderness, Maroon-Bells Wilderness, Sangre de Cristo Mountains, San Juan Mountains. Idaho - Assorted hot springs, Sawtooth Mountains. Wyoming - Tetons, Yellowstone.

 

Southern States

Arkansas Ozarks, East and central Texas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi.  

 

"The Water Planet"Cover of The Water Planet