Joel Meyerowitz, a self-styled Huck Finn and urban explorer, will be honored Monday November 2nd at Aperture Foundation's annual auction. And the timing couldn't be better for photography collectors attracted to events that benefit important cultural organizations.

Among the items up for bid are a personal tour of Central Park's Hallett Nature Sanctuary, which is closed to the public - and a print of one of Meyerowitz's photographs made inside the Hallett. This image is one of 250 in Legacy: The Preservation of Wilderness in New York City Parks, just published by Aperture, and is also included in a major exhibition of the same title currently on view at Museum of the City of New York.

Left to Right: Udalls Park Preserve, Udalls Cove, bottom of the cove looking out to Little Neck Bay, spring; Central Park, Hallett Nature Sanctuary, autumn; Pelham Bay Park. Twin Island trail, winter. Copyright Joel Meyerowitz, courtesy Aperture Foundation, from Legacy: The Preservation of Wilderness in New York City Parks.

Meyerowitz came to create this body of work by invitation from Adrian Benepe, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. While the parks have been regenerated and expanded in recent years, Benepe realized that there had not been a photographic survey done since the 1930s, when they were documented as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's WPA program.

In 2004, Meyerowitz, together with Benepe, made a rain- and windswept visit to North Brother Island in the East River. Soon thereafter, the Bronx native began shooting parklands in the Bronx, his native turf. In his preface to the book, Meyerowitz writes that his "childhood memories of green space - open and wild, teeming with rabbits, raccoons, migratory birds, snakes, frogs, and the occasional skunk - gave me my first sense of the natural world: its temperament and its seasons, its unpredictability and its mystery. It was my dream space and, in many ways, no different than that of a boy growing up in Tennessee or Oklahoma. New York City was rich in these near-wilderness retreats, and it still is today. Yet how many of us are aware of these gifts?"

The large format book offers a very personal view of the city's less traveled parklands, starting with an untamed riparian zone just an hour's ride from Grand Central Station on the 6 train. Meyerowitz's signature style, which embraces muted light under somewhat overcast skies, brings the landscape to life throughout the seasons.

An avid trekker in the city's more offbeat parklands myself, I found photographs of trails I've discovered on many weekend flights from Manhattan - outings in which a half day spent in the city's wilderness was worth a weekend trip to the mountains. But there are so many unusual destinations still to be explored. For example, the reclaimed Bronx River, which until several years ago was a polluted dumping site, and which now calls for a kayaking tour. Or Brooklyn's Marine Park, a now obvious destination for a sweltering August morning. And the swamp in Staten Island's High Rock Park, which the photographer describes as a place that "echoes the bayou and wetlands of the Deep South."

This "voyage of visual discovery," in the words of Adrian Benepe, continues in the exhibition of 90 images currently on view at Museum of the City of New York. For a magnificent large-scale preview of the book - and a taste of what's coming up for auction on Monday night - a stroll through this exceptional show will open vistas bound to surprise and enchant.

Aperture's 2009 Benefit and Auction starts at 6:30 pm with a cocktail reception and silent auction, followed by dinner, the live auction and award ceremony at The Lighthouse, Pier 61,Chelsea Piers. 23^rd Street and the West Side Highway, New York, NY. The online auction closes at 12 Noon on Monday, November 2. The live auction commences at 8:25 pm on November 2. Closing bids in the online auction become starting bids for the silent and live auction artworks. All proceeds benefit Aperture Foundation's publications, exhibitions, and public programs. This year's honorees are master photographer Joel Meyerowitz; photography dealer Howard Greenberg; and curator and Aperture trustee Susana Torruella Leval. Click here to order tickets for the benefit. Click here to order a copy of Legacy: The Preservation of Wilderness in New York City Parks. A limited edition boxed set of Legacy and The Hallett Nature Sanctuary will be available in November. Click here and here to view upcoming book signings with Joel Meyerowitz.

The exhibition Legacy: The Preservation of Wilderness in New York City Parks continues at Museum of the City of New York through March 7, 2010. 1220 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. 212.534.1672. Join Joel Meyerowitz and author Philip Lopate for a discussion on Thursday, December 10. To order tickets, click here.

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