SnakeMedicine_Book1

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THE ITINERARY 1. MONTICELLO, VIRGINIA 2. BEAR MOUND, IOWA 3. LAKOTA HILLS, MISSOURI 4. COLORADO PLATEAU, COLORADO 5. STONE MOUNTAIN, COLORADO 6. UTE INDIAN MOUNTAIN, UTAH 7. CHACO CANYON, NEW MEXICO 8. BLACK MESA BUTTE, NEW MEXICO 9. BLACK MESA, ARIZONA 10. SUPERSTITION MOUNTAIN, ARIZONA 11. NEVADA-ARIZONA BORDER 12. ANASAZI RUINS, ARIZONA 13. ZUNI LANDS, ARIZONA 14. ESCALANTE PLATEAU, UTAH 15. CAPITOL REEF, UTAH 16. BRYCE CANYON, UTAH 17. “HOV”, UTAH (DRIVE BY) 18. ZION NATIONAL PARK, ARIZONA 19. MOJAVE DESERT, NEVADA 20. ON THE WAY TO PALM SPRINGS, NEVADA 21. CAHOKIA, ILLINOIS and Point Lobos gave him the solitude for inspiration. Weston made kelp and windblown trees appear sensual and alive. In the mid-20 th century, Minor White’s passion for the mundane brought the art of landscape photography to a new height. Rows of furrowed ground compete with natural wonders. A mid-Westerner transplanted to the West Coast, White is remembered for his intellectual curiosity and philosophical pursuit of truth. At last count, the Brazilian Sebastião Salgado has visited 120 countries. He uses his talents as a photographer to enlighten the world about the age-old war between nature and man. The former will ultimately win out, but Salgado is often in the midst of causes to protect or restore the environment. Unless the photographer has declared a moratorium on cropping the photograph, the photographer’s job is not done without employing editing options. For example, should the photo remain untouched? How is it best displayed? Landscape photographers have a complex job of determining how much should be left as is it is in nature, what should be “interpreted” for the viewer with a few discreet crops, or how much the photographer wants mood and environment to be reflected. Should he return on a cloudy day, or a sunset or sunrise, or at a different time of year? The landscape generally doesn’t change, but the photographer’s goals and attitude inevitably do. In this volume, Scott Angus shares his art as well as his thoughts about the photographs he took on his cross-country odyssey. Recorded in 2006 and 2013-2016, his recollections are poignant and remain fresh. But just as important, he gives you a look at the photographs from a photographer’s view. We hope that his sight, becomes yours as you seek your own spiritual places—hence, the play on words “site” and “sight”. Placing the photos into context, Emily Sopensky describes the historical significance of the sites. Her conversations with Scott Angus trigger some of the more significant insights to the photographer’s eye and the ability to “see” his subject. This collection of photos is organized by site, chronologically by Angus’ itinerary. After a practical description of the site and its historical significance, each picture is presented first in color than in black-andwhite. The photographer points out the difference between the two. In Conversations with the Artist, he answers some of these questions: What attracted you to the site? What makes it a sacred site? What is sacred in this photo? Why take this photo? Why this angle? What is the focus in the color photo? In the black&white? What color(s) are dominant in this photo? What object is the focus? Where do you want the viewer’s eyes to go? Would you recommend crops? If so, where? What would you leave out if you had to crop it? There are many decisions to be made of which the observer is unaware. 4
S N A K E M E D I C I N E In some Native American traditions, the snake signifies transmutation, a shedding of skin as a life begins. In this debut album, the photographer embarked on a cross-country road trip that ultimately transported him to a new career and a new life. In part this is a record of his trip. Regardless of the importance of the snake in Native American culture, remarkably and without intent, the snake is the subject of many of his photos. The trip culminates when the photographer visits Cahokia, one of the 23 UNESCO World Cultural Sites in the United States, and located in southern Illinois across the river from St. Louis, Missouri. Exploring the surrounding universe is fundamental to any inquisitive mind. For a photographer, discovery is a way of life, and the anchor of his calling. The photographer in this record was already familiar with visiting sacred sites as far ranging as those on Navajo reservations and Anwar Wat, the ancient mystical Cambodian temples. Attracted to powerful landscapes as well as ancient symbology, the photographer conceived an itinerary that took him from Washington, D.C. to Orange County, California via a non-traditional route. Visiting with friends and family along the way, some even joined him in his quest for spiritual earth sites. The first odyssey ends in St. Louis, Missouri, where Scott Angus teaches at Maryville University. Again, without conscious intent, he is learning how propitious St. Louis is to his own quest for sacred earth sites. Some archeologists pit Cahokia city, established in the first century just across the great Mississippi River from current day St. Louis proper, as the heartland and homeland for the ensuing cultures of Native Americans that spread throughout the Midwest, the Great Plains and the South of the United States. Seeing the unseen is the theme that runs throughout the book. Invoking the owl’s mystical role as gatekeeper to the unknown realms, we spy on the great natural landscapes, and intuit their inner secrets. What a coincidence that by chasing the spiritually powerful, but dormant Native American sacred sites, the quest ends where it all began—in St. Louis! 5
Page 5 and 6: SACRED EARTH SITES: SEEING THE UNSE
Page 8 and 9: TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S PREFAC
Page 12 and 13: ON LOCATION 1 I M O N T I C E L L O
Page 15 and 16: C o n v e r s a t i o n s w i t h t
Page 17 and 18: Bear Mound, Iowa. Bear Mound - Effi
Page 21 and 22: “Wineman’s” Bluff, Missouri.
Page 25 and 26: Mountain Ridge, Colorado Plateau, C
Page 29 and 30: Stone Circle, Colorado. Stone Circl
Page 33 and 34: Endless Embrace. Scruff in the fore
Page 37: Undulating Seams. Shot at high noon
Page 40 and 41: Eternal Sky Meets Age-old Artifices
Page 45: Beyond Approach. Cliffs drop off to
Page 48 and 49: ON LOCATION 9 I BLACK MESA, ARIZONA
Page 50 and 51: A Stairway (Black Mesa, Arizona). S
Page 52 and 53: ON LOCATION 10 I S U P E R S T I T
Page 54 and 55: The Stillness of a Whisper. Apache
Page 56 and 57: ON LOCATION 11 I B O R D E R , A R
Page 58 and 59: Arizona-Nevada border, north of the
Page 60 and 61:
ON LOCATION 12 I A N A S A Z I R U
Page 62 and 63:
The Winding Way. Arizona Anasazi Ru
Page 64 and 65:
ON LOCATION 13 I Z U N I L A N D S
Page 66 and 67:
Split Tree in Black-and-White. A Zu
Page 68 and 69:
ON LOCATION 14 I E S C A L A N T E
Page 70 and 71:
Bleak Plateau. In black-and-white,
Page 72 and 73:
Sagacious Sage. A backward glance c
Page 74 and 75:
Sage Glance. The black and white ta
Page 76 and 77:
Waves Frozen in Motion. This image
Page 78 and 79:
Holding Pen. So much more depth sho
Page 80 and 81:
Escalante Plateau - the Fortress. S
Page 82 and 83:
Escalante Plateau Crevasse. The con
Page 84 and 85:
ON LOCATION 15 I C A P I TO L R E E
Page 86 and 87:
The Striped Tower The Striped Tower
Page 88 and 89:
ON LOCATION 16 I B RY C E C A N Y O
Page 90 and 91:
Pins and Needles. Depths of torture
Page 92 and 93:
s In the Shadows. Fortress of red r
Page 94 and 95:
s A Void. Forming a dark secret
Page 96 and 97:
Lake Protected by Rock. Beneficial
Page 98 and 99:
Ghost Mountain. The haunting of a l
Page 100 and 101:
ON LOCATION 17 I “ H OV ” H OV
Page 102 and 103:
Anasazi Cloud Crowd. Near Escalante
Page 104 and 105:
ON LOCATION 18 I Z I O N N AT I O N
Page 106 and 107:
In Between. Spiritual energy emits
Page 108 and 109:
ON LOCATION 19 I M O J AV E D E S E
Page 110 and 111:
Ominous Space. Darkened lens highli
Page 112 and 113:
ON LOCATION 20 I N E VA DA , O N T
Page 114 and 115:
s Warrior. Illustrating the narrati
Page 116 and 117:
ON LOCATION 21 I CAHOKIA, ILLINOIS
Page 119:
Glimpses of Prior Grandeur. A long
Page 122 and 123:
Peaceful Existence. At the foot of
Page 125 and 126:
C o n v e r s a t i o n s w i t h t
Page 127 and 128:
The Mississippi River and Watershed
Page 131:
Snake. Petroglyph, Tent Rocks, New
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