Life in the Fire: Wyoming Hotshot captain Kyle Miller opens photo exhibition

CODY, WY — Kyle Miller’s photo exhibition entitled Fire on the Mountain opened at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West for its member reception on Friday.

“Do I have really nice light? Do I have a limited number of colors, a non-busy background, a good subject? Can I put all of those elements together? Is that picture in front of me,” said Miller, sharing his thoughts while shooting wildfires.

He has been working as a firefighter for 21 seasons since discovering his passion for the work while taking on a job between college semesters fighting fires.

“What I’m seeing is a lot of hard work, first of all, long days, extreme conditions,” said Rebecca West, executive director and chief executive officer of the museum who discovered Miller’s work through his Instagram.

Miller began photographing fires on his first fire assignment in Alaska in 2004, taking pictures with a disposable Kodak camera.

“Science is incredibly important, and we need to make decisions that are data-driven; however, reaching broader audiences requires a compelling story,” said Corey Anco, curator of the Draper Natural History section of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West.

He said the gallery provides a sample of events expected to become more frequent and more intense resulting from Wyoming’s increasingly hot and dry conditions due to climate change.

“We want to feel up close and side by side with the wildland fire fighters,” said Anco, “This is putting people inside that fire.”