Sandstone near Page, Arizona, rendered in black and white to isolate the layering and drop the color out of the equation

Page, Arizona

Half Life

There are places you can photograph once, and places you have to keep returning to.

Horseshoe Bend is one of the most photographed landscapes in the Southwest, and after visiting it several times, I found myself less interested in making the photograph of Horseshoe Bend and more interested in finding a different way to see it. From nearly 1,000 feet above, I ignored the familiar composition and isolated just half of the bend—the river tracing an elegant S-curve before disappearing into the distance. A tiny speedboat moving through the canyon became the only clue to the enormous scale of the scene.

I processed it in monochrome with a subtle selenium tint, which seemed to strip away the familiarity of the place and reduce it to shape, texture, and tone. That's what returning to a place gives you: once you've captured the obvious, you can start looking for the photographs that were hiding underneath.

Nikon Z 7II · Nikkor Z 14-24mm · 24mm · f/8 · 1/640 sec · ISO 64

Limited Edition Print

Available as a limited edition fine art print, produced on demand in four finishes. Full sizing and materials are on the prints page.

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Frame 9 of 31

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