Images Past

I've had some fascination with prehistoric European cave art for many years, but I never had as much interest in American petroglyphs and pictographs for some reason. I suspect it's because I never really saw any in situ until our trip to Moab. That changed my appreciation for it very quickly.

Spread throughout the Canyonlands and Arches National Parks are several sites of well preserved examples of Native American art, some dating back a couple thousand years or more. Like the better known cave paintings in Spain and France, there are some fairly accurate representations of local animals that were hunted by the indigenous peoples. But also like the European art, there are fascinatingly surreal figures interspersed among the recognizable fauna.

I mentioned in the previous post how humans were subject to wild flights of fancy. These images seem to confirm that. Technically called "shamanistic figures," they certainly look like the results of a fevered dream or trance. Indeed, I can relate to those grotesque visions.

When I was very little I had a couple of bouts of bronchitis and fever. I distinctly remember the hallucinations I got when I was very sick. Objects and people grew ponderous and distorted and everything moved in slow motion. A sense of confusion and even fear became palpably real and very little could be done to calm me down when I was caught in the throes of those images.

Could it be that these ancient etchings represent very real emotions rather than just shamanistic symbolism? I would venture it was a combination of both: a very real attempt to explain our fears and put them into concrete form. Indeed, how very different are the two, really?

At the same time it makes me acutely aware of the universality of our human experience. Gazing at these figures and what they might represent makes me wonder how much has really changed over the millenias. The attempt to explain our world is as old as humanity itself. Our quest to do that, our ability to reflect on the past and to project into the future - in essence to dream - is both a gift and a curse.

At the same time, those rock images were, in a very large sense, an attempt by their makers to create something beyond themselves and their fragile lives. Whether through the cave paintings and rock art of the past or through the fine art or pop art or even the graffiti of the modern age, the urge for some form of immortality is still very much alive and part of the human psyche. We each, in our own ways, want to leave our mark on the world. Why else do so many of us make art, take photos and write blogs?

And perhaps, like the annoymous artists of the past, we will do just that, becoming in the process the annoymous artists of the future, whose immortal marks will be nothing less than the continuation of the human spirit.

Turret Arch, Arches National Park

Usually landscapes are shot with the sun at your back. It's the light the makes the image pop, so naturally you want most of the illumination on the subject. But once in a while it's more intriguing to break outside of the conventional wisdom.

This shot of Turret Arch was taken on our first, brief visit to Arches National Park in 2005. When I say brief, I really mean brief. We were vacationing with the kids in Grand Junction, CO, for a few days and decided to take a jaunt to Arches. Unfortunately we got a later start than we intended (not unusual with our group). Plus we took the scenic route instead of the faster, more direct one. As a result we reached Arches near sundown. The Windows Section, with Turret Arch, was really the only part we could get to before we lost the light.

I was intrigued with the glow through the small window in the formation. The only way to capture it was from the dark side. There is a stark and dramatic quality to this image that I really like. I felt it would be equally impressive in black and white, if not more so, so I shot a roll of that as well.


I may have to break with convention more often.

Arches Sunset - Part Deux

A couple of days prior to the photo in yesterday's post, I shot the sunset from the other side of the image. Roy and I were exploring the Windows section of Arches National Park at the end of a long day. As we began our short trek to Turret Arch I paused to shoot towards the fading light, silhouetting one of the rock pillars nearby. While not exactly pointed towards the spot I was standing days later, it was close enough to provide a complimentary bookend to yesterday's view. I love the shades of gray receding into the horizon line. It was very peaceful and beautiful.

"El Dorado" - Arches National Park, Utah

El Dorado, the fabled lost city of gold, drove the Spaniards into the inhospitable desert in search of its gleaming walls and hoards of treasure. Alas for them, it was a myth of their own greedy minds. Many died in it the futile quest for its discovery.

Happily for us, we found our own version of the lost city in Arches National Park, Utah. I shot this when we were there last year, as the waning light bathed the Windows section of the park in glowing golden hues.

When Tina saw this image that night on the computer, her imagination ran rampant. She saw the weary Conquistadors gazing upon this sight and in their fevered minds seeing the object of their desire, only to pursue it to their deaths under a blazing sun and Indian arrows.

Did I say her imagination ran wild? Regardless, we now call this image "El Dorado," and she used it as the basis for her oil painting of the same name. You can see it on her blog at www.skyshadowstudios.blogspot.com.