Photographer visits all national parks in United States

Quang-Tuan Luong is thought to be the first person to have visited all of the national parks in the United States. But he did not just visit, he captured each one in photographs.These photos are so good they may prompt you to plan a trip to a national park.

Born in Paris to Vietnamese parents, Luong experienced his first national park as a rock climber in Yosemite then worked his way through all of the U.S. national parks, camping in remote areas with his 75-pound large-format camera.

Luong’s park photo’s, each 34″ X 43″, are on display in an exhibit titled “Treasured Lands” that runs through September 10 at The National Heritage Museum in Lexington, Mass. Open 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and noon to 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Admission and parking are free. For information, call 781-861-6559 or go to nationalheritagemuseum.org.

During National Park Week April 16-24, which includes Earth Day on April 22, all 58 national parks are free, as well as 336 other National Park Service properties.

When a photographer visits all national parks and comes away with this collection of work, we wonder “Why didn’t anyone do this before?” Maybe because Luong spent 15 years going through all the parks to create his collection.

Photo courtesy National Heritage Museum

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