Yellowstone, by timelapse photographer Andrew Curtis, is a visual tour through one of America’s most iconic national parks. Where this video moves beyond typical and into the realm of sublime, however, is in its brief, possibly unintended, shots of human hustle and bustle. Besides revealing the natural majesty of the park, Curtis also bravely documents the unavoidable human element of such a popular tourist location by including scenes of bison cruising down the street next to cars and geysers erupting in front of crowds of vacationing onlookers. These are shots you just don’t see in the usual nature specials, where the goal seems to be to create images of Yellowstone as a pristine place untouched by human beings.

Yellowstone is a majestic place, but far too often nature specials edit out the reality that it is also a very, very busy tourist location. The traffic jams in Yellowstone rival those of Los Angeles; the lines to walk around the geysers rival those of Disneyland. And while it’s not clear if Curtis’ intention was to include the human element or if this was simply a byproduct of his not having enough money to close areas of the park to visitors while shooting, the images still resonate.