The Kingdom of the Sun

The Kingdom of the Sun A Portfolio by Frank Zullo

The sun arcs across the sky, attached to the invisible hour hand of Nature's grand celestial clock. On its way, the sun's light interacts with ice crystals and water droplets to create fantastic displays of rainbow-colored light. Close to the horizon, the sun forgoes the peacock blues and greens normally included in its palette, opting instead to illuminate land and sky with bright reds, yellows, and oranges. The sun rises and sets each day at slightly different locations on the horizon, tearing off pages from its perpetual calendar as it goes. It knows exactly when to warm us in winter, or turn up the thermostat to hatch spring's seedlings; when to bear down in summer to drive the life-giving weather systems, or back off so as not to overpower the gentler glow of autumn leaves. I've photographed the sun working its wonders in the sky and marching seasons across the landscape, always at its own pace. And rightfully so. It is by the course and the tempo of the sun that Earth has survived the eons, not by the clocks and calendars of man.

In Phoenix's Papago Park, the sun peeks through Hole in the Rock, a natural alignment believed used by the ancient Hobokam as a calendar. The multiple exposure tracks the setting sun and was taken on the day of the vernal equinox.