A Year in Photos

Photography, fiction, and personal essays form my three primary creative outlets. For this blog's first 18 months, I used it primarily for photography. As I've returned to creative writing, I'll use this blog for fiction, too. Sometimes, when reality needs to be discussed more than truth, I write personal essays.

This blog will continue to showcase as many above-average photos as I can muster. Hopefully my written work will be as good or better than the visual. Whichever drew you here -- photographs or fiction, I hope you enjoy both.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Found Photos Friday: Grand Canyon, 1952

Last week I shared some images from Amsterdam in 1958. In that same box one roll contained photos of the Grand Canyon and some of the slides were marked 1952. I visited the places in these slides in 1996. My novel's first chapter takes place in this area, too. Seeing these same cliffs reminded me of my time at the Grand Canyon seventeen years ago. This canyon does not change to our eyes, not except for man-made changes like Hoover Dam.

The canyon does not care, really, about our comings and goings. To it, our whole species will evolve, thrive, and disappear into the fog of history faster than it could comprehend we even existed. Certainly the changes we have made to it so quickly will last. But, in time, they will fail and the canyon will return to it's pre-industrial-humanity state none the wiser that we ever thought we could control its river.


Seventeen years ago I visited this spot. I saw this view and these rocks with my eyes and my camera. This slide's colors have changed, yes, but this image should startle all of us. Today, even on clear days, those most distant rocks are too lost to haze to be seen clearly. How amazingly clear, how dust-free, smog-free, pollution-free this air from 61 years ago was that light and detail could span miles more than they can today and an instant of light could hit those distant rocks, travel without significant impairment, and reach a small frame of slide film. Today, that light would bounce and disperse long before it reached any film or camera sensor.


Grandview Point. You should do an Internet search for Grandview Point photos. Look at how much less of the distant canyon can be seen for all the particulates in the air.





I imagine this photo is posed. Maybe not. If not, I wonder what he's wondering. Pondering. How majestic it is. That the best things take the longest to make.if he were to pee over the edge, how far in could he hit. Who knows what he's thinking. This is a good shot, though.


So much detail, so much depth. It's like a bottle rocket going off in my brain.


The slides have no indication for when the trip occurred. But, snow likely limits the timeframe to winter break.





And one last shot from Grandview Point. Next time, we may get to France. Or we may visit Ireland. That's TBD and there are still a few hundred photos to choose from in this lot.

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