SnakeMedicine_Book1

C o n v e r s a t i o n s w i t h t h e A r t i s t
When I was hiking, I came across this away from the normal tourist track. The patterns
of the rock formations are quite striking. I like the colors, especially the repetitive
reds. The spikes look very uninviting and militaristic, like impaling poles. You
can feel the danger just by looking at this photo. The danger is exciting but no one
is going to hike in there and touch them—at least, I hope no one is insane enough to
attempt it!
The colors have multiple variations of red, capped my streams of verdante green
and then layers of orange cream. The colors remind me of popsicles or rockets ready
to shoot up in the sky.
I was so mordantly fascinated by the grand impossibilities posed by these creamcicles
that I kept two shots. The images running through my mind were compelling.
What quirk of nature made this spectacle? It’s so danger-invoking and titillating to
think about the possibilities, easily stretch into science fiction.
The stalagmite-like pinnacles are so different, that I can conjure up an image of
a gigantic altar. I feel it is a sacred site that is exploited. I mean, you can almost see
the anger, as if the gods were not pleased with the people so the gods pushed these
daggers up to catch the unworthy.
There is ego here wanting more respect. The arena must be taken as a whole;
you can’t hike down. The trail is only along the rim of the canyon. The focus is the
pattern of reds, drawing attention to the sense of the whole.
In both the color and black-and-white, the focus on the entire landscape. I would
suggest only minimal cropping.
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