Historic Sites of the Southwest

[Kirk Gittings]

Steve Simmons and I will host for the third time a travel workshop from Sept. 26 thru Oct. 2 2004 in the archeological sites of the Anasazi of New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado. The workshop visits Chaco Canyon, Canyon de Chelly, Mesa Verde and interesting places along the way. This is the favourite workshop that I teach because the sites are spectacular and the light in September/October can be marvelous. I have been photographing these sites for 26 years (they appear in a one book of mine and another one that is in design as we speak) and I look forward to them each time. Color or b&w welcome. Between Steve and I we have like 50 years experience (yikes! we must be getting old). Call 800-984-8439 for more info or email me. Cost is $925.00 per person plus lodging and transportation. Hope to see you there.

[Blake]

as a native american, i can only say this. michael, where were you in 1692?

hey, that rhymes!

me

p.s. hey, peckerwoods, get outta my country.

[Jim Rice]

While I am not one of the usual "pile on Mr. Simmons" crowd, and though it sounds like a fine trip (Native American sensibilities, aside), does the above post comply with the terms and conditions of this site? BTW, if I had $925, I'd be ordering my 135 Sironar-S, and maybe a beater 65/8 Super Angulon for the Mississippi swamps, that I would galdly get you lost in for half the price.

[QT Luong]

Jim and all, one-time workshop and gallery opening announcements are authorized. Sorry this appeared to disappear from the current guidelines.

[Bobby Cranford]

My wife and I went on the workshop last time. It was great. Kirk has great knowledge (and respect) about the history of these areas, especially Chaco Canyon. Our group was very respectful of the sites. In Canyon de Chelly we had to use Native American guides while down in the Canyon. I did not sense any resentment towards us. I live in S.C. and this was a great way for me to see some of the great sites of the Southwest and learn some history that I would never have if I would have went on my own. Steve and Kirk have it timed to be at the locations at the best times for the light. They both are good teachers and very approachable with questions. We started early in the morning and we did not finish most nights until after 11:00. (I think they went longer, but I could not hold out without some sleep.) I would go again if I had some available vacation time (and the money of course).

[William Demere]

Since the Anasazi abandoned all of those sites in the 13th c (and some like Chaco in the 12th c.) I wonder if a bunch of photographers there is really going to offend anyone's ancestors.

OTOH, no one knows why they abandoned the sites. Maybe they abandoned them because it was the only way to prevent the portal to the underworld from opening up and sucking us all back down again? In that case...

[Mark_3632]

Hey, I live smack Dab in the middle of where all those sites are.

Here is the low down. People have been photographing those sites for years. I was asked, this past weekendby a Navajo guy, if I wanted to buy a pot dug up at an "ancient site". I would say there are worse things going on than taking pictures. Those it seems to offend the most are the crystal crunching medicine wheel creating new agers who base their ways in Sedona. By the way all of the medicine wheels around sedona were created by white folk.

As a former Archaeologist I can say I garnered a lot more resentment with a trowel in my hand at a legal and proper excavation supported by the Hopi tribe, than i ever have with a camera. Respect is all it takes, and don't even try to take a photograph on the Hopi or Zuni reservations. They can confiscate all of your film and expose it so there is no chance of an image being smuggled in a pack full of LF film holders. Navajos do not seem to mind as long as permission is gotten from residents. Just like anywhere else. I would not take a picture of someone's house without asking.

The remnants of the anasazi are alive and kicking. They did not abandon the sites they moved. Just look at the pueblos that dot the new mexico landscape. The Hopi came from a different direction.

925 + Lodging is a lot of money to go kicking around the desert with a camera.

[Kirk Gittings]

Bobby,

Thank you for the kind words. I remember you and your wife well and the car. I enjoyed your enthusiasm and positive attitude, but I think I get as much out of it as the students do. We didn't do it last year because of my commitments teaching in Chicago, but I am really looking forward to doing it again this year. I even managed to squeeze a couple of good images out of those trips. One from Longhouse at Mesa Verde was included in a 30 year retrospective show in Louisville last spring and one from Chaco may make the final cut in a retrospective book on me that is coming out next spring.

Since you are following this forum, I trust you are still actively photographing. If you did anything you are especially proud of from the workshop, I would love to see it. Best of luck.

[Jim Rice]

My apologies for not better understanding the site rules.

[David F. Stein]

Kirk's book is well worth seeking out. What I like about his work is that the printed "output" impressed me first as "inages" rather than photographs. It is hard to transcend any medium and I think Kirk hit it brilliantly with his work here.