A Virtual Photography Exhibition of Amazing Rock Formations
Earlier this week, an exhibition of my black and white photography project titled “Standing With the Ancient Ones” ended its first show at the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, Arizona. The journey to photography those images required over 4-years, thousands of digital and film images, and 6,000 miles of travels through remote regions of America’s Colorado Plateau and Great Plains. My purpose in this project was to locate and document ancient animal- and human-shaped rock formations like the one below which were ever present and significant to Native Americans who once lived upon these lands.
Spirit WarriorPhotographed at Bisti Wilderness Area, New Mexico
The amazing and often breathtaking formations documented in this project sit on land that was once the home to various Native American tribes. They were also important in their culture and frequently became the main subject in storytelling and lessons on life, spirituality and living properly that were handed down for generations like this famous story of Naapi.
the Blackfoot. When his work was done he said to himself, “I will go up
onto the highest mountain and change myself into stone. He then hiked to
a crevice in the mountain, laid down with only his face peeking out, and
turned himself into a rock. He is still there, watching for people to
come looking for him. ~ Blackfoot Legend of Naapi
Today, most of these formations are lost in unpopulated, remote and rarely visited regions of America. More importantly, because the few visitors who do make the journey usually arrive without a cultural understanding of those ancient people who honored the spirit in all Earthly things including the rocks, many often leave having seen only piles of rocks
To help introduce you to this project and the newly published fine art book Standing With the Ancient Ones (click here to learn more) I’ve created a virtual photography exhibition from several framed photographs in the show. Simply click on the image below to begin viewing the exhibition. You can then move from one image to the next or click on a specific image to see it in a larger size.
Virtual Photography Exhibition
