INSIDE OUT

Most of the images of ancient ruins are shot from the outside, looking in. For this photograph, Jerry Jacka reversed the perspective: Instead of showing the grandeur, he says, “I was attempting to capture a view of what the Anasazi people would have seen as they looked out into Canyon del Muerto.”

BY KELLY VAUGHN PHOTOGRAPH BY JERRY JACKA

IN 1976, Jerry Jacka made this photograph from Mummy Cave Ruins in Canyon de Chelly during a trip with Arizona Highways Associate Editor Wes Holden (who later became the magazine's interim editor). He remembers the trip fondly.

“We gained special permission from the National Park Service and had a ranger with us,” Jacka says. “He allowed us to climb up inside the ruin, and it was quite an honor to be able to get up there, as it's off-limits. This photograph doesn't show the grandeur of the entire ruin. But I was attempting to capture a view of what the Anasazi people, who lived there centuries ago, would have seen as they looked out into Canyon del Muerto.” At the time, Jacka's camera of choice was a Linhof Technika 4x5, and he says photographing the ruins in black and white augmented their natural beauty.

“The canyon is magnificent in a number of ways,” Jacka says. “First, you have the sheer sandstone cliffs, with all of the character of the cliff faces. Then, you think in terms of the cottonwood trees, their green leaves - and later the gold. The prehistoric cultures of the Southwest have always intrigued me, and in Canyon de Chelly we have the cliff dwellings, which are a testament to the ingenuity and strength of the Anasazis who lived there. We have that wonderful rock art. And then you cap that off with the fact that Navajo families still live and farm in the canyon. Where else in the United States can you find a space that's so diverse in culture and beauty?” Although Jacka has visited Canyon de Chelly 10 times most recently in 2005 or 2006 he's not currently planning another visit.

“I'll visit the canyon in my photographs and my memories,” he says.