Southwest-Gallery mounts Water Flight exhibit, images of remote locations of the American Southwe

June 11, 2011 - PRLog -- Water is scarce in the American Southwest, but elevation changes are abundant. The widely-separated rivers and streams invariably contain innumerable waterfalls and rapids. The new "Water Flight" exhibit at Southwest-Gallery.com features photographs by Stan Humphries on the theme of descending water. The southwest offers a remarkable diversity of examples, from rivulets in the desert to full cascades in snow-covered mountains. The photographs capture off-trail locations. In the absence of any human references, the images magical and even disorientating.

The photographs include the following locations:

* A hidden slickrock narrows (Escalante National Monument, Utah). A trickle of water flows over intensely-colored rocks to form a clear green pool. The desiccated landscape adds a surreal presence.

* An exuberant waterfall between Lion Lakes (Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado). The water seems to leap out from the rocks and race from side to side on its descent.

* Waterfall on Clear Creek, bottom of the Grand Canyon (Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona). The ten foot drop is created by a chokestone in a constricted canyon of striated rocks. Although the water assumes a relaxed symmetry, it constitute a significant hiking obstacle.

* Snowmelt over darkened rocks near Black Lake (Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado). In the almost monochrome image, the creeping water has a ghostly presence in the morning sun.

* The centerpiece of the exhibit is a slot waterfall in The Gulch (Escalante National Monument, Utah). In the sensuous image, the carved rocks seem to flow with the stream.

* Columbine Falls and Peacock Pool on the Chasm Lake Trail (Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado). The landscape of the park was carved by glaciers, with sequences of exposed rock shelves. Most canyons include chains of lakes separated by cliffs and waterfalls. The image suggests the verticality of the environment and the contrast between motion and repose.

* Above Chevaya Falls (Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona). Although Chevaya Falls is listed as the highest waterfall in the Grand Canyon, it is actually a thin waterslide that is difficult to view. The almost inaccessible small waterfall above the falls suggests rare coolness in the oven-like environment of the canyon.

* West Creek Falls at sunrise (Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado). The animated water appears to be internally illuminated, in sharp contrast to immovable granite in blue morning shadow.

* Emerald Pool (Zion National Park, Utah). The photograph (taken from beneath the waterfall) shows water racing to meet stones of extraordinary colors.

* Glacier Gorge Creek (Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado). The image is a serene still life. Water gently moving between stones and logs glows as the sun rises over enclosing ridges.

* Another waterfall above Lion Lakes (Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado). This composition contrasts with the previous one as the water descends in stately manner between dark, monumental rocks.

* Unarmed canyon (Sandia Mountain Wilderness, New Mexico). The rugged granite west side of the Sandia Mountains has hundreds of side canyons, dry except for snow melt. The photograph of a trickle of water in the Spring suggests the enveloping quiet and isolation only a few miles from Albuquerque.

* The final photograph shows another narrows-canyon waterslide ((Escalante National Monument, Utah). A stream descends through a notch in red slickrock, forming a fantastic fan of colors and highlights.

The link to the exhibit site is http://www.southwest-gallery.com/water_flight_exhibit.html.


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E mail: info@southwest-gallery.com
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Southwest-Gallery.com features a unique collection of digital images and digitized monochrome photographs of off-trail locations on and around the Colorado Plateau. Topics range from sweeping views of mountains and canyons to abstract natural compositions. A feature is a collection of luminous compositions recorded on monochrome film that have been digitized and carefully restored.Full resolution images are available on request for commercial and non-commercial uses. They are suitable for large display prints, screen backgrounds and publications. New theme exhibits are mounted monthly and past exhibits may be accessed in the archive.