Popular Photography, August 1998
"Kathleen Norris Cook, a self-taught professional landscapist, has the unmistakable knack of tripping the shutter at the light fantastic...."


Mike Nobles, Montrose Morning Sun, August 13, 1998
"Spectacular color images bring to life the unforgettable scenes of the natural wonder and awesome beauty of the San Juans."


Popular Photography, August 1998
"Kathleen Norris Cook, a self taught professional landscapist, has the unmistakable knack of tripping the shutter at the light fantastic-of catching rainbows, if you will. 'I like to shoot in transitional times. I'm always looking to shoot before a storm, or after a storm, rather than go out on one of those nice clear sunny days. 'That's not to take anything away form clear sunny days-but I like the drama of changing weather.' Finding the drama is a matter of patience, of course, and considerable guesswork. But as Cook says, your guesswork may become more intuitive and educated with experience. .."


Montrose Morning Sun, Thursday August 13, 1998, by Mike Nobles.
"Noted Ouray publisher, Western Reflections, inc. has once again proven it can compete with the best of the big houses back east in producing quality publications. This time they did it in a big way with the publication of Spirit of the San Juans by master landscape photographer Kathleen Norris Cook. If, as some contend, the San Juans are the most beautiful mountains in the world, the Cook's 129 color photographs are, without question the most stunning and unforgettable ever published of on place of such a majestic phenomenon. The spectacular color images bring to life the unforgettable scenes of the natural wonder and awesome beauty of the San Juans. From single images of the diversity of the San Juans to overpowering panoramic views, on page after page the reader is introduced to the very soul of a national treasure. In addition to the wonderful landscape scenes there is a moving collection of Cook's first published portraitures of a select group of residents that live in, and co-exist with the best of Rockies have to offer. ..."


Telluride Daily Planet, August 28-30, 1998, by Juliana Hoffpauir.
"Many photographers come to the San Juan region to capture the dramatic lighting found in our mercurial weather patterns, not to mention the awesome landscape. To reflect the true essence of the surrounding majestic beauty is the ultimate challenge to any amateur or novice photographer. Ouray photographer Kathleen Norris Cook has achieved this enormous task in her New book Spirit of the San Juans. ..."


Book Description
A master of the subtleties of light and the art of composition, Kathleen Norris Cook presents awesome displays of the mountains that many call the most beautiful in the world. Spirit of the San Juans contains many of the most spectacular and unforgettable photographs that you will ever view as well as portraits of a few of the resilient people who have come to live in this remote and rugged area of the Rockies. This is a treasure to add to any collection.


From the Inside Flap
Renowned nature photographer Kathleen Norris Cook has come home. It is here in the beautiful and majestic San Juan Mountains of Colorado that her heart and soul reside. And the San Juans have finally found their champion - a photographer who can do justice to the awesome wonder and magic that are the San Juans. In Spirit of the San Juans one of America's leading outdoor photographers, Kathleen Norris Cook, has taken treasured photographs of her beloved mountains and produced a volume so large and so breathtaking that it is the first true and accurate representation of the experience of actually being in the San Juans. Visitors to this glorious place find spectacular scenery, resplendent colors, vast wildlife and wonderful encounters. In this beautiful, full-color table-top book, Kathleen Norris Cook has collected treasured moments and presented lavish illustrations of the spectacular natural wonders which compromise the San Juans. Cook is a master in the subtleties of light and the art of composition. Her color images translate her visual experience to the reader in such a way that the visitors own adventures can be relived simply by viewing her photographs. Fantastic displays of color and beauty abound in the wonderful panoramas of the San Juans-mountains which many call the most beautiful place on earth. Along with wonderful landscapes and colorful images are portraits of a few resilient people who have come to live in this remote and rugged area of the Rockies. Listen to them tell of the experiences which have molded them and allowed them to live in concert with the mountains. These portraits are Cook's first published portraitures and vividly illustrate the effect the San Juans have on the people who inhabit them. Photographed with an artist's eye, and artist's love and an artist's vast experience, Kathleen Norris Cook's Spirit of the San Juans is perhaps one of the most beautiful and most unforgettable books of photographs ever produced. This surely is a treasure to add to any collection.


About the Author
Photographer Kathleen Norris Cook came to the rugged San Juans in a rather roundabout way. She was born in Louisiana and after obtaining a Fine Arts degree from Mississippi College, she spent thirteen years as a commercial artist. She began her work as a photographer when in 1977 she decided to make a career change while living in Arizona. Although she had no formal training in photography , her experience in the advertising field endowed her with an eye for the medium. The mystical Arizona mornings and cool evenings enticed her into landscapes. Her first undertaking was to get one of her photographs published in Arizona Highways magazine. After months of tenaciously studying lighting and landscapes, her photograph of Toroweap Overlook above Grand Canyon was included as a full-page pictorial in the November 1978 issue. After that, several assignments followed and Cook quickly became known as a legitimate landscape and commercial photographer. In nineteen years of freelancing, her work has been sought by many international companies including Eastman Kodak, E &J Gallo, Hewlett Packard, and numerous tourism boards worldwide. Along with national advertising work for such clients as American Airlines, General Motors, and Ford, she is a major contributor to Sierra Club publications as well as the National Park Service. Cook has completed three books: the most recent Yosemite, Valley of Thunder, a large pictorial book; Exploring Mountain Highways, s book featuring her panoramic photographs; and The Million Dollar Highway, a book dealing with the area between Ouray and Durango, Colorado, published by Western Reflections, Inc. She was also a major contributor to the recently published book Nature of America. Her studio and library are currently located in Laguna Hills, California. Cook's success keeps her on the road but her permanent residence is in Ouray, Colorado.


Excerpted from Spirit of the San Juans by Kathleen Cook. Copyright © 1998. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved
(from introduction) "Shining Mountains" to the Ute Indians, The "Silver San Juans' to the prospector, "Gods Country" top the visitor or simply "home" to the locals-the San Juan Range is southwestern Colorado is a harsh, challenging and rugged land of grand peaks, which contains some of the most precipitous, dangerous and wildly irregular mountains in the world. The 12,000 square miles encompassed by the San Juan Mountains collectively compose the highest area of elevation in the continental United States. Yet some how this remarkable region possesses a spirit that captures the heart of all who come here. Those who visit, play, work or who are fortunate to live in this magical place find it inspiring, uplifting and gratifying. Those who leave are always drawn to return-at least in their hearts-for there is something here which the soul yearns. The Spirit of the San Juans with its stunning photographs portrays that spirit.

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