didn't know that about fatali. I'd known he'd lit a fire under delicate arch, but we've all got our eccentricities. eh, I just judge photographers by their photos.
didn't know that about fatali. I'd known he'd lit a fire under delicate arch, but we've all got our eccentricities. eh, I just judge photographers by their photos.
I finally visited Fatali's gallery outside of Zion National Park a couple of months ago. Signs everywhere in the gallery that his prints are "not manipulated". The reds in his fall color images and some of the red rock images are so far over the top that its not even funny. Saturated beyond the loss of detail. There are no reds even close to his anywhere in nature no matter the "magic" lighting. He should have a talk with his printer.
I lost all respect for the man after the Delicate Arch incident, but after seeing his prints, lost any remaining respect for the photographer. He does have a few excellent images, but overall, there are many, many better photographers of the southwest than Fatali. He just knows how to market.
Jim Cole
Flagstaff, AZ
Cibachrome can do some really wacky things with some colors, like red.
Don - I ran into him in Lower Antelope Canyon about 2 weeks after he lit the presto logs on fire next to Delicate Arch, and he was in the first alcove where the "coyote eye" arch is and he was tossing dirt into the air. OK, I'm fine with that. The problem was his wife was standing upcanyon blocking everyone that was coming down so we would not walk into the shots. OK, that acceptable too. But then "Wait, just one minute" became 5 minutes, then 10 minutes, and then shortly after that, everyone just got tired of him holding us up as he went through film on the 8x10. By this time, there was about 15 people that were trying to enjoy the canyon and we all just walked into the shot. He quickly packed up his 8x10, and then shot a bunch of handheld stuff with a Voightlander pano camera and he left.
When I got back to home, I found out that he was suspected of scarring the ground under Delicate Arch.
I try not to be that obnoxious when I'm out taking photos...
Anyway, let's continue discussing our favorite Canyonlands photographers.
Kirk - www.keyesphoto.com
I really enjoyed Elliot Porter's book on the Grand Canyon. I was impressed that hw took all the photos in what looks to be only 3 trips down the river. I wish I could get that many photos to be that good in such a short period of time.
Kirk - www.keyesphoto.com
Kirk
It was 5 presto logs in various places around the arch (in metal foil pans that melted) plus a brush fire at the base (made with available brush). His trial also included several similar incidents in Canyonlands which were proven. The subway incident was not on trial nor the other Zion incidents. The subway image was at night and I asked him if he was using flash with filtration(eg red/orange/yellows over the flash head) but his answer was "natural light". I guess fire is "natural".
At one point I was hoping that Fatali could start making photographs for himself,
whatever that means, instead of for tourist traffic. Because he can print. But then he
turned the other way and got more and more predictable and less and less real. The
problem is not with Cibachrome, although it has certain inherent peculiarites just like
any print medium. Several of his most spectacular prints are composites of different
transparencies, and the hues are pretty spiked. However, intense colors sometimes
exist in that part of the world and much of his work is certainly not 'faux' in the sense of many digital landscape images I have seen. The fact that his galleries are closing
speaks about the shortage in tourism at the moment. His problem is with ethics,
claiming that he waited days on end for a particular light when its pretty obvious to
any skilled darkroom worker that the images are hybrid. The same cresent moon
appears in exactly the same place in the sky in several different scenes. Wouldn't
mind if he weren't fibbing about the reality of his visual experience. There's far too much beauty in that part of the world to have to go around faking it and repeating
specific subjects that have been done over and over by others. Eliot Porter he is not.
Getting back to the OP's question (are there any B&W photographers whose names are associated with the Colorado Plateau?), it seems that we are starting to establish the answer as "no."
That said, for a great collection of color shots of the Grand Canyon, I cannot recommend the book "Lasting Light" highly enough.
Also, although Jay Dusard has already has his name associated with cowboys, there is some nice Colorado Plateau work in his book Open Country. In reading the notes for that book I also discovered this person:
http://www.davidhgibson.com/index.htm
Look at the Southeast Utah, Arizona, New Mexico galleries for some nice B$W panos of the four corners region.
Finally, I remember AA as saying in print somewhere that what he didn't like about the southwest for photography is peoples' tendency to "exaggerations of color and form." I think I got the quote right, the rest is (possibly inaccurate) paraphrasing. Maybe this kept any serious B&W photographer from staking his/her career on that area!
Yeah Jay Dusard comes to my mind
I am surprised that no one has mentioned Don Kirby or Joan Gentry. Very fine photographers that live in Santa Fe and photograph the Colorado Plateau a lot.
http://www.donkirbyphotography.com/
http://www.joangentryphotography.com/
Mike
Kirk - www.keyesphoto.com
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