Portfolio: Light, Shadow, and Form

LIGHT, SHADOW, AND FORM

Lees Ferry has been a key Colorado River crossing point for people on their way to someplace else since John D. Lee first dipped his oars into the mighty river in 1872. Text continued on page 27

LIGHT, SHADOW, AND FORM

I am no exception. For 12 years I have been crisscrossing this high desert land, always en route: down the river by raft, to or from the North Rim by car, up Paria Canyon on foot. Each time I promised myself to return one day and photograph the Vermilion Cliffs, which here provide a rugged backdrop for the Colorado. But for all these years, it has never happened. Until now. My morning begins at 4:00 A.M. with strong coffee. In minutes I'm on my way, my pack of camera equipment strapped to my back. I trudge along the base of the ancient cliffs in the company of boxcar-size boulders perched precariously on their rock pedestals, looking much like gigantic mushrooms. Their attraction is magnetic. As I scramble to find the perfect composition, rose-colored light glints over the Echo Peaks. But my indecision is my downfall; too soon the sun is up, and the delicate shades of dawn I'd hoped would wash over my picture are gone. Text continued on page 31

LIGHT, SHADOW, AND F O R M

Now all I can do is watch the sunrise paint the ancient rocks with shades of gold and crimson, the very colors that gave these cliffs their name: Vermilion. Each day I repeat the ritual, rising at 4:00 A.M. and striding off to record the balanced rocks. Soon they are as familiar to me as if I had lived here all my life. I can trace the paths they have scoured down the cliff face, the great pieces of Shinarump stone tumbling, tumbling, finally coming to rest on the much softer Moenkopi formation. Each boulder shelters the softer rock beneath; but as wind and rain slowly take their toll on the surrounding Moenkopi, it erodes to leave the Shinarump boulder resting on a pedestal. Eventually the pedestal itself gives way, and the boulder again falls. In time another will take its place, and the weathering process will begin again. But my camera captures the monoliths as they appear now, in the magic light of the high desert. And before you are the results The coffee's hot. Linger awhile.