Seeing Arizona

Josef Muench and Nick Nicholson are both excellent photographers. Josef, a regular contributor to Arizona Highways Magazine, made his first photographic journey into Arizona in 1936. Since then he has photographed the marvels of this state on several hundred trips. Nick's work, on the other hand, is brand new to the magazine. He traveled throughout Arizona in 1977, on assignment for Trans World Airlines, and has seen and photographed Arizona only two times. These photos then, are his very first impressions. We thought you would enjoy seeing what these two men have captured on film, together with the images they carried home in their minds. Although they are a generation apart in age, we think they share a common artistic sense of what Arizona is all about.

Clockwise, Mission San Xavier del Bac near Tucson, close-up of barrel cactus, the Arizona state capitol, Indian objects from the Heard Museum in Phoenix, and the logs at Petrified Forest National Park. All photos by Nick Nicholson "It's often difficult on long assignments to maintain enthusiasm, especially when there are great distances to span and a deadline to meet. But every day in Arizona brought new scenery and new subject matter... nowhere on earth can there be a more dynamic and natural photographic subject than Arizona." - Nick Nicholson

"The Grand Canyon is the most difficult thing to photograph in Arizona for several reasons. It's probably been photographed more than anything else in the world . . . so all the precedents have been set, all the angles, all the times of day and in all kinds of weather . . . but I don't think anyone can capture the feeling that you have inside when you first walk up to the rim."

"I was at Monument Valley before sunrise. I was standing there in total darkness and didn't have any idea what to expect. Then the sky faded from black into softer colors and that big red sun appeared, casting fantastic shadows on the monuments . . . what an introduction to my first view of the area." – Nick Nicholson

Color, form, texture, shape - from white-trunked aspen on the slopes of San Francisco Peaks, to the colorfully reflected buttes of Oak Creek Canyon, Arizona is nature at its beautiful best. Photos by Nick Nicholson "I do a lot of travel photography, so what I call a chrome-blue sky is something that I couldn't imagine. It works so well with the desert, with the vistas in the canyons, and even does something to architecture. Many times I saw willowy-wisp clouds, and they appeared to have been 'brushed' into the sky . . . incredible." - Nick Nicholson