Beauty and the Beaks

A Photographic Love Letter to the Swaner Preserve by Steve Krongard and Jodi Buren

August 23 - December 1, 2024
This exhibit is no longer on display. View our current and upcoming exhibits.

About the Exhibition

In this photography exhibition, visitors will experience the dynamic landscapes of Swaner Preserve and majesty of the sandhill cranes who call it home. Breathtaking photographs and hands-on interactives reveal the science and splendor of the Preserve and the cranes who thrive here. There are fun activities for all ages:

🖼️ Experience the stunning photography
💌 Write your own love letter & we'll send it for you
🌅 Explore the exhibition with our interpretive guide
🐣 Dress up as a crane, build a nest, & forage for food

Steve and Jodi have been drawn to photograph Swaner Preserve, each with similar passion but differing visions. Their photographs are a love letter to grand and timeless beauty; to fog, snow, wind and rain; to mountains and grasses; to big skies and the creatures who live beneath them. They photograph to preserve the fleeting moment; to share with others this ever-changing meeting of earth, sky, and nature’s light show that graces us with its presence every day.

This exhibition was created by a partnership between Steve, Jodi, and the Swaner Preserve.

About the Artists

For the last 40 years, Steve Krongard has made photographs for himself as well as the world’s great magazines and corporations. These ranged from surfers on Australia’s Gold Coast to coal miners in Hokkaido, to Odd Dogs for Geo magazine, Fortune Amtrak, Apple, and American Express. He was selected to participate in the famed “Day in the Life” series in Australia, China, Japan, The USSR, and numerous other countries. He has shared his perspective on the art and business of photography in workshops and lectures around the world. He spoke and showed his work as part of the Smithsonian guest artist series. He made a nationwide TV and radio tour in Australia to help kickstart the process of more copyright protection for that country’s photographers. He served as national president of the Advertising Photographers of America and was named one of Canon’s original “Explorers of Light”. He continues to pursue his personal work, accepting select commercial assignments.

Jodi Buren is a portrait photographer with 40 years of freelance photography in New York City. Her subjects have ranged from celebrities, athletes, business tycoons and Presidents to break dancers, male strippers, and sandhill cranes. Her editorial clients have included the New York Times Magazine, LIFE, Sports Illustrated and Newsweek. Her corporate clients include IBM, AT&T and American Express to name a few. Her specialty is her warmth, and her ability to reveal the beauty in all her subjects. Jodi’s book, “Superwomen: 100 Athletes - 100 Sports” which she wrote and photographed was published by Bullfinch Press with a forward by Billie Jean King. An exhibit of the photographs, sponsored by Rolex opened at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, and toured numerous venues throughout America.

This husband-and-wife duo live on the edge of the Swaner Preserve with their dog, Panda. Learn more about their work.

Purchasing Art

Are you wanting to display beautiful, local art photographed right here in Park City, Utah? Look no further! All the photography in the exhibition is available for sale. Profits from the sale of exhibit photographs support Swaner Preserve & EcoCenter.

Visit the EcoCenter or contact Hunter Klingensmith, hunter.klingensmith@usu.edu or 435-797-8943, for more information.

View the Price List

Exhibition Survey

Your feedback helps us better serve our community of visitors – and can even help us find grants and funding for future exhibits! You will be entered into an opportunity drawing to win some Swaner swag and local goodies.

Take the Survey