Photographer’s Statement
I search within the borders of Arizona for revealing patterns in nature. A few journeys also document human culture, ancient and contemporary. On occasion I travel more widely to make images, exploring west and north through the California deserts, now and then swinging into Nevada or toward the operatic landscapes of Southern Utah. You might imagine an eroded land devoid of life and significance. That would be wrong. These dry places provide fertile ground for the imagination, where you will discover cracks in the earth so gaping they induce vertigo, pinnacles to rival skyscrapers, cold black volcanoes whose peaks exploded deep in the prehistoric past; and everywhere there are piles of boulders changed by a natural aesthetic into sculptures, fractured works of art obeying uncanny geometries. Animals prosper and plants grow tenaciously here in impossible circumstances. Subjects appear in endless shapes, colors and textures, so that photographing them thoroughly might consume many lifetimes.
At times our deserts transcend their ruggedness, their parched soil and uncompromising light; these empty places can then refresh a traveler with tender surprises. Oases of green exist so peaceful they could stand in for Eternity. One encounters cool water in these hidden locations, shade and grass, palms and palmettos growing happily among evergreens. In my travels I photograph alpine islands a mile and more above the earth. Aromatic pines live in mountain sanctuaries; flowers, streams and still life compositions abound. Sunsets viewed from these elevations often resemble gigantic forest fires.
Monumental, extraterrestrial, otherworldly come to mind, and I could produce an even longer necklace of adjectives to evoke the remarkably strange beauty I have seen. I work to capture some of the essence of this territory in a personal way using a classical style, while the giants of photography history carry me along on their shoulders.
To contact me personally, please write to: crhowerton@gmail.com.