What I see in Plate 4 is fairly simple, a mountain range with clouds hanging in the valleys, large boulders littering the landscape from foreground to background, and the light and shadows that are produced by a setting sun. I see sagebrush dotted throughout the landscape in-between boulders. The peaks stretch up toward the sky out of the shadows. There are footprints in the sand. What you don't see is the cloud cover that is creating the shadows on the ground.
This photograph evokes an emotional response in me. Disregarding the pure aesthetic value of the print, I still am imbued with emotion as I look at the image. To me this print signifies a struggle. This is a struggle between light and dark that could easily slip into the favor of either. This print strikes worry into my soul for fear that the shadow may win. This image is a moment in time, we do not know what came before nor do we know what is going to happen after. If I am correct in assuming that this image is one close to sunset, the shadows will eventually be victorious. Hours later when the sun rises again, the light will be victorious. To me this image signifies the never-ending relationship of light and shadow. The boulders seem to stretch on to the horizon and it only strengthens my impression of their being no end in sight between this relationship of light and shadow. This image genuinely brings an emotional response to the surface in me. I fear that I am getting to subjective and metaphorical in my analysis of the image. Even if we set aside my subjective scribbling about what I think is going on in the photo, it does nevertheless provoke more than one emotional response in me and I think most importantly the emotion of fear. I suggest that with every photograph there may be some different kind of emotional response to it.
Plate 5 was taken a last summer on the rim of beautiful Canyon De Chelley National Monument in Arizona. Standing from the canyon rim you can only see select parts of the canyon. This vista was by far the most open view in the area. The Navajo sandstone contrasts sharply with the blue sky and the white wisps of clouds separated only by a thin line of green foliage. The canyon itself wraps around a stone corner and fades into the distance. The only shadow hides underneath the right side of the canyon. The giant stone obelisk shoots up from the canyon floor and is clearly self-evident. It has long been separated from the rest of the canyon wall, now standing alone, it seems almost as if it does not belong there. At the base of the obelisk, there is sinuous trail that rolls through the canyon, destination unknown. At the canyon base the foliage hangs on to life in the harsh waterless desert environment only getting water through the canyon during the winter months, if at all.
The meaning or truth of this photograph is unclear; I find the landscape to be strangely real and unreal at the same time. Real in the sense that Plate 5 is what it is, a photograph from the rim of Canyon De Chelley. Strangely unreal in the sense that the sandstone obelisk should have toppled over centuries ago. There is not much of a difference between what I see of this photograph and what it means to me. I take it for what it is and besides an initial reaction of awe; there is no other response I get from it.
Plate 6 was taken either minutes before or minutes after but the result is radically different. One thing that black and white photographs sometimes do over color is transport you to a time and place rather than just to a place. Plate 11 for example brings you to a time and place rather that just a place. It brings me to the time during the gold rush in California and Nevada. The place is a dust-ridden patch of desert in Nevada only accessible to the brave traveler who can go hour and even sometimes days without seeing a soul. The first thing that I notice about Plate 6 is the sky seems to leap off the page; it is very intense. There is also a great deal of contrast in every part of the print. A harsh line of black foliage that spans the width of the landscape now separates sky from canyon. Instead of wispy clouds, there are harsh contrasts between white cloud and dark sky, its almost as if they are fighting for superiority. Shadows are intensely contrasted by the darks sandstone. The rift between canyon wall and obelisk seems infinite. The obelisk stands alone sharply contrasted against the canyon floor. The thin serpent like trail cuts trough the floor disappearing into the distance. A sense of curiosity arises wondering where exactly the road leads.
The print's meaning, as a whole, is not that different from what is described above. Basically I think the print's truth to be the separation of humankind from the earth itself. The sandstone obelisk separated from the rest of the canyon wall represents us, having been separated from the earth. The obelisk stands alone, tall, rugged, and prepared. I believe this to be illustrated not just by the obelisk in the foreground, but also by the print as a whole. The sky is also sharply separated from the ground by that thin line of dark foliage. An emotional response is provoked in me, but I think that could be because I was there and I am indeed linked to this photograph, being the artist. Everything in the print seems to loom or be lurking. Time feels slower when looking at this print, partly because the canyon took thousands of years to slowly form from wind and water erosion. Another part of the print's truth is that we are being eroded too. The sandstone obelisk of humanity will not stand forever. It, like the real sandstone tower, will eventually crumble away into dust. This provokes a sense of quiet urgency in me. The real test will be if the reader gets an emotional response from the photograph.
There are some obvious differences between Plates 5 and 6, most notably are the reaction one gets from Plate 6. It provokes and emotional response, whereas Plate 5 may provoke a response that is not near the intensity or complexity of Plate 6. Plate 6 also gets at the truth of the artist by way of manipulation. The artist in this case is in full control of what they want the landscape to look like. I remember standing there on the rim of that canyon trying to visualize what the final product would look like. Ansel Adams once said the best photographers are the ones that can fully conceptualize the end product before even the shutter is released. I do not pretend to be at that skill level but there was visualization of an end product or an idea of what I wanted the final print to look like.
Monument Valley is a stunning place both visually and emotionally. Plates 7 and 8 where taken in summer time from the south rim of the valley. Lets start with Plate 7. Standing there, one is immediately drawn to gigantic boulders that teeter on the valley's rim. If one looks closely, one can see hundreds of carved names in the boulders. No doubt rich with the names of visitors who felt so inclined to make their visit a permanent addition of the valley. Looking through them, three stone monuments, as large as six storied buildings rise from the valley floor. How did they get there, one wonders. Years of erosion and wind have no doubt slowly carved them away. When looking closely at the stone monuments one can see infinite patterns; they are almost like weathered stone faces. A tourist road snakes down through the valley off into the distance. A rare rainstorm, has feed the sparse vegetation turning it green. There is no blue sky in this photograph, just the deep shadow of an overcast sky.
To me this photograph is powerful by itself. It has a powerful vista contrasted by smooth sandstone that appears to have been painted with an array of southwest color. It is an accurate representation of this view. What is sometimes difficult when viewing photographs is realizing the scale of the landscape. This photograph does not do the natural drama of the landscape justice. There is so much flat light from the sky being overcast, that the sandstone does not jump out at you as should. This photograph definitely makes me remember being in that place but it does not evoke the strong feeling of awe that I got when I first walked to the edge of the valley.
Plate 8 on the other hand, only taken a few minute before, creates a striking separation between the two photographs. The first thing I notice is the scale of the boulders in the foreground, they take up nearly half the frame. The boulders are textured with lines that separate different layers. Again one can see the presence of the years of graffiti by visitors seamlessly etched in stone. The darks shadows between the boulders give way to the curve of the tourist road that is sharply cut off by the edge of one of the boulders. The framing has cut off some of the sandstone towers creating the illusion that perhaps they stretch panoramically around to the foreground, and that the long years of wind and erosion have slowly cut a gap between them so that now one can see into the distance. The sandstone monument now stands alone at the base of the valley. Deep shadows cut across the valley floor, seemingly blocking the light on the valley floor rather that on the stone monuments of the boulders in the foreground. The sky is deep with the onset of dark clouds. The vegetation dots the valley floor with black spots, no doubt thirsty for what the sky has to offer them. Also, the leftmost stone monument has a small tower on its edge that shoots up toward the sky separated and teetering from the main body of the monument.
Plate 8 is a very dramatic photograph. The sky, landscape, tone, and mood of the photograph all contribute to the dramatic feel. This is a tough photograph to read. The graffiti on the boulders in the foreground, as well as the tourist road sinuously cutting its way down to the valley floor, and the dark shadows and cloud cover that seem to be moving across the sky and valley floor about to consume the entire landscape bring a sense of our relationship to nature. Not necessarily a good relationship either. When I took this photograph, the dark shadows from the clouds where moving toward me. At a point I felt helpless to avoid the blackness that would soon consume the rest of the valley. This, plus the sheer grandeur of the valley itself, made me feel helpless and small, as if my attempt to capture the moment would soon be thwarted by Mother Nature. Even the graffiti will one day be washed away. The landscape is constantly changing, and no matter how often or much we try to alter it, it will always return to a state of nature. The boulders are illuminated in the foreground by a small hole in the clouds not visible within the frame of the photograph. I believe this signifies that even things that are not of this world are capable of changing that landscape. This valley took thousands of years to form, and even as we speak it is changing. Nature does not need any help from us.