Symphony in Sandstone

Symphony in Stone A SLOT CANYON PORTFOLIO BY MICHAEL FATALI

In the autumn of 1986, my wife Cynthia and I were hiking a sandy wash near Page when we happened upon a huge sandstone cliff face broken by a dark, narrow slit. Feeling adventurous, I gathered my camera gear, and we squeezed through the rock aperture. Once inside we were engulfed by darkness and silence. We had not brought a flashlight; so we inched our way along carefully, hoping the floor of the passage would not suddenly give way or spill us into a bottomless pit.

Time slowed to a standstill as our path wound on into the heart of the cliff wall. Then, gradually, the darkness gave way to filtered light, dimly illuminating the marvelously tapestried walls surrounding us. We knew at once what we had found: a slot canyon, a windand waterfashioned sanctum of swirling shapes and dancing colors, a chimera, blending and changing around us. Delicate shades of color intermingled, creating form, substance, and texture. Rough, jagged edges of rock blended effortlessly with soft flowing curves in a veritable symphony in sandstone. My camera forgotten, we wandered through the halls gasping at the sensual wonders that met our eyes. As we walked, light gradually increased, the colors of the walls shifting from deep purple to warm red to tan. Then before us, the canyon's mouth appeared, opening into another sandy wash. At the exit, we rested briefly, regaining a sense of reality as our eyes adjusted to the outside light once again. It was this marvelous experience that later drove us to seek out other slot canyons, to photograph the exotic rock forms and colors that had been shaped by wind and water, and to wonder at Nature's craftsmanship in these halls of stone.

Much of the work of fine art photographer Michael Fatali is in corporate and private collections in Arizona. You can see more of his artistry in a photographic exhibit on display through January at Creekside Galleries in Sedona.