In the summer of 1983 I found myself touring the Southwest looking for a new place to live,
and headed out to Canyon de Chelley for the 4th of July. This is my first photograph of rock
art. The photographic image was quite a surprise to me at the time.
Canyon Records - 'Inside Cayon de Chelly' - Paul Horn and R. Carlos Nakai
When I hiked down into the
Canyon to White House ruins, I had left my tripod in the car as the sun was so bright.
That was actually a mistake, I took this photograph in the shade at f4 & 1/15 sec
exposure. Despite that impediment, it's one of my sharper 35mm black & white photographs, primarily due to
the quality of the light.
What initially appeared to be just a simple arrangement of 4 painted images,
was actually a an incredible interplay of the painted images and the rock form itself. That form appears to me as
an emergent human figure containing both a fish head, and an ancient unfinished face emerging out of it's chest.
It's images such as this, that fuel my photographic journeys.
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Rock Art Index