southwestern sculpture

[mnaz]

a few of my favorites from a few years back...



Salinas Mission, New Mexico



Salinas Mission (again), New Mexico



On Smoky Mountain Road, Utah (can't forget the sculpture of rock)


And I'll throw this one in, since it remains my favorite Black Rock Desert shot (despite the so-so resolution)...

[Steve Plonk]

Mnaz, thanks for these outstanding panoramic shots...Takes me back to my youth when traveling through the West in various locations.

[dadio]

thank you for sharing these, mnaz.

[mnaz]

thanks steve, terry. (i think i'll address everyone by their first names from now on, at least those names i know from introductions and such). (oh, my name is mark, btw).

yeah, i'd forgotten how much fun this art/photog. board can be. haven't been around here in months! maybe i'll see if i can reconnect the scanner to the new computer... i wasn't thrilled about visiting the spanish missions, especially when i read some of the history (sheesh), but those low-sun-angle shots really flushed out the architecture, crumbling as it is. in the utah shot, interplay of clouds and sunlight played a big part (same with the black rock shot)...

[mtmynd]

fine photos, Mark, especially striking in the b&w mode.

[Arcadia]

i wasn't thrilled about visiting the spanish missions, especially when i read some of the history (sheesh) yeah..., I can imagine..!

I disagree with Cecil this time, I like the last one in this serie, the so-so resolution color one, gracias for sharing them!

[mindbum]

me aaron. you mark.

ah those clouds called shadows cast crosst upthrust landscape.

i like the high contrast crumbling architecture. maybe the brutality of humanity dooms all buildings. or the other way around. must be something to such an old place.

[mnaz]

thanks cecil. i guess one reason (maybe the biggest reason) so many people work extensively in b. & w. is that it maximizes contrast, both in the intensity of shading itself, and in the viewer's lack of "distraction" (for lack of a better word) by color.

thanks arcadia. that last shot is the "ultimate blank canvas"...

thanks aaron. new mexico has a considerable 15th-17th century euro-history. spanish, mostly. they fared well in the desert, since they came from desert climes back home. the missions no doubt accomplished some good things, but too often they were only euro-subjection/subjugation stations. convert the savages at sword point. new mexico has quite a mexican history as well (it was part of mexico until the 1850s or so).

anyway, it's been one hell of a long winter, and i thought i'd throw in a few more from a while ago. more sculpture. all rock this time:


Virgin River Badlands, Nevada


Goblin Valley, Utah


Sheldon Wildlife Refuge, Nevada


Aguereberry Point, Death Valley, California