At the height of the American Civil War a series of photographs motivated President Lincoln to save the Yosemite Valley from development and laid the political foundation for our National Parks. Long before Ansel Adams worked for the Sierra Club there were photographers whose images of the West acted as the catalyst for the protection of the environment and public spaces in America. Angus will introduce the audience to the role obscure and well-known photographers played in preserving the natural and public spaces of America for generations to come. The talk will look at the power that the medium held around the turn of the 19th to the 20th Century, and question if photography still holds the power to save our lands in the 21st Century.