Illusions..

There is something zenlike about the mysterious, expansive tranquility of this photo overlooking eternity,  the lyrical flow of the infinite impeded only by the rude imposition of man whose restrictions and taboos are all that block our path to peace and freedom.

In reality, this picture was taken at the 4 Corners National Monument at the geographical point where Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah meet.  The photo is looking out onto Colorado and the posts are there to keep out the cars, buses, and vanloads of tourists who have come to see this truly unremarkable sight.  A large brass disk (which was recently found to be in the wrong spot) indicates the "exact" spot where the four states meet.  In as much as we have 4 extremities, busloads of Japanese, German, and various other European tourists, and vanloads of American families willing to pay $5 and wait on long lines, get the opportunity to straddle the disk and to be in four states at once while a friend or family member climbs up to a platform above to document this event photographically.  Surrounding the disk area were 30 or 40 booths for people to sell souvenirs, food, and beverages to these pilgrims.

The fallacy of this "zenlike" photo is that I am standing with my back to this madhouse of a thousand tourists buying, eating, laughing, talking and straddling, in 20 different languages.  As I look at this picture I can still hear and smell the carnival like atmosphere.

At my recent show "Signs of Life in Death Valley and the American Southwest",  I was telling this story to Joe Schyuler,  an important local photographer.  He asked me why I didn't take a picture of the area behind me.  I told him it didn't occur to me at the time, since I didn't know there would be a story to tell.

He told me that when he was studying photography with Minor White, the students were given the long standing assignment to turn around after they had taken a picture they liked, and photograph whatever was behind them.

I have done this on a number of occasions with generally uninteresting results, but I particularly like the juxtaposition of the two photos below which provide surprising context to the illusion posed by the first picture.

So indeed, things are not always what we imagine them to be.

                                                                     Pablo