Rosella Mosteller’s camera is a regular companion on her outdoor excursions throughout the American West, and now some of her distinctive black-and-white photographs from her home state have been compiled in a new book, “Montana: Mountains & More” that is available in a limited print.
Mosteller, who makes her home in Kalispell, has been shooting professionally for nearly two decades, and her debut book includes some of her own stories, haikus and other writings alongside photographs of the natural world. Her art focuses primarily on the stillness of the outdoors, with rocky outcroppings, placid waters and abundant plant life making up the bulk of her subjects. The self-described outdoor enthusiast said the choice to aim her camera at the forests and deserts she visits was an obvious one.
“I made those choices (to document nature) because it fits my attitude that art is life and life is art,” Mosteller said. “It’s part of who I am.”
The most distinctive feature of Mosteller’s work is the deliberate choice she has made to print in almost exclusively black and white. Mosteller made that decision partly for pragmatic purposes — to fill a less-crowded niche than color photography — and because she believes the lack of color allows the viewer to connect more closely with her images.
“For me, personally, I like the black and white,” she said. “I like the emotive value that black and white brings to an image.”
Mosteller worked a series of day jobs before she packed a camera along for a trip with a friend in the mid-1990s. That first dalliance with the art form turned more serious not long thereafter, with Mosteller going on to seek training at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. By the year 2000, she was working formally as a photographer and before long her art was earning placements in prestigious museums throughout Montana. Mosteller’s photographs can be found at WaterWorks Art Museum in Miles City, the Yellowstone Art Museum in Billings, the Missoula Art Museum, the Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art in Great Falls, and the Hockaday Museum of Art in Kalispell, among other places. She also received an artist-in-residence assignment at the Bighorn Canyon Recreation Area and a placement at the Plaza Diane Community Center for the Arts in nearby Powell, Wyoming.
The new book is Mosteller’s first foray into publishing, and it came together at the prodding of a few other local artists who had found success doing similar projects. While her photographs are available at a number of galleries, Mosteller hopes an entirely new audience will be exposed to her work through this book.
“I’ve tried other resources, other ways to get my work out there, and it wasn’t as effective,” Mosteller said. “I had so many images and this was a great way (to reach) an audience.”
Mosteller will be sharing stories and images from “Montana: Mountains & More” at Flathead Valley Community College’s Broussard Family Library and Learning Commons on Thursday, Nov. 21 from 6 to 8 p.m. The reading is free to attend and will be interactive, with attendees able to take virtual-reality tours of the wilderness using the school’s new VR technology, and there will also be a trivia contest where the winner will receive a signed, limited edition photograph from Mosteller.
For more information and to view more of Mosteller’s work, visit www.mostellerphotos.com.