About Open View Photography Ilona McCarty

Some people are defined by place. Ilona McCarty is one of those people. 

Her home in the Central Idaho Rockies is at once narrow, close-up -- a river canyon -- and grand -- the wide open of wilderness.  

Likewise, her perspective as a photographer ranges from the intense closeness of a honeybee's belly to the far-reaching landscape shot from the precarious perch of a single-engine airplane. 

Behind the lens, Ilona is passionately committed to uncovering the secrets behind the form -- the color, light, and texture that evade at first glance. 

Ilona pushes her cameras to its limits, transforming imagery into art form.  

Her latest subject? Mountain pine beetle. "I realize as I walk in the woods around my home that the landscape is changing before our eyes. The green trees we took for granted are now red and soon to be the gray skeletons of a dead forest. I feel like documenting this epidemic is my way of coming to grips with the massive environmental change that is taking place." 

Books  
A Short History of the Honey Bee Humans, Flowers, and Bees in the Eternal Chase for Honey, Timber Press/ Workman Books.http://www.workman.com“Filled with just the right mixture of learning, personal narrative and historical facts, this piece is enhanced by strikingly beautiful photographs by Ilona, set among the pages like brilliant gems. The prose is comprehensible and inspiring." Meredith Greene, Sacramento Book Review

Fleurish, Sasquatch Books. 150 full color images of flowers, accompanied by evocative, sensuous text. http://www.sasquatchbooks.com "Full page close-ups on such details as the furry stem of a zinnia and the dew-drizzled leaves of a blood lily. Shot this way, even everyday daisies and run-of-the-mill roses regain all the mystery of the exotic." The Los Angeles Times

MagazinesWestern Interiors and Design, AARP the Magazine, Big Sky Journal, Big Sky Journal Home, Western Art & Architecture, La Vie Claire, Islands, Garden Design, Sun Valley Magazine, Sun Valley Home Magazine, Northwest Palate, Diversions, Country. 

Newspapers Seattle Post Intelligencer, Honolulu Star Bulletin - Hawaii, Idaho Falls Post Register