My first trip to the Southwest for photography began in 1985.   Trips West for photography would soon become an annual occurrence.  Sometimes for personal photography and other times leading photo workshops with my partner and mentor, Jack Holowitz.  Over the years I’ve witnessed a plethora of landscape and erosion variations unique to the Arizona Strip. The Arizona Strip lies north of the Colorado River and into a small portion of southern Utah.  Its landmass is greater than the state of Massachusetts, yet it’s population is less than 8100 according to the 2000 census. At the eastern end of the AZ strip lies Page, AZ. home to the Glen Canyon Dam recreational area and the destination of my first-ever trip West. 

   Page, AZ is where many of the most famous slot canyons are found.  Wikipedia defines a slot canyon as a narrow canyon, formed by the wear of water rushing through rock. A slot canyon is significantly deeper than it is wide. Some slot canyons can measure less than 1 meter (3 ft) across at the top but drop more than 30 meters (100 ft) to the floor of the canyon. One of them, Waterholes Canyon is found outside of Page on Highway 89 and is seen here in an image I made back in the early ’90s.  I specifically included this image because of the boulder seen wedged in between the narrow sandstone walls. The boulder is probably 2 ft. in diameter and weighing hundreds of pounds !  My first visit to this canyon in ’85 there was no boulder, several years later I returned to make this photograph. A flash flood is the only way that boulder becomes lodged where it is, all sorts of debris are carried along the narrow winding path of a “slot” and at some point can no longer pass due to its size, not its weight ! The force of the water has amazing power, imagine propelling this boulder at well over a hundred pounds !

I only learned of Horseshoe Bend of the Colorado River after several visits to the Page area.  Only several miles from Waterholes Canyon on the same RT. 89 back closer to Page lies this month’s featured photograph. About a 3/4 mile hike up over a small knoll and 5 miles downriver from the Glen Canyon Dam lie this spectacular vista !! The mighty Colorado River over eons of time is the driving force behind possibly the greatest display of erosion anywhere in the world, otherwise known as the Grand Canyon, one of the 7 Wonders of the World.

  There have been several times where I have put myself in dangerous positions in the name of “getting the shot”.  This is likely the first of those high-risk photographs.  You can see in the accompanying aerial photo of Horseshoe Bend a Green arrow where I set up my camera.  My camera is a 5×7″ film camera with a 90mm lens, that is an extremely wide lens and takes in nearly an 88-degree angle of view.  Due to the wide-angle lens, I had to move as close to the edge of the cliff as possible, even then the bottom part of the negative is not used in the final print.  In this case, the front tripod leg was very close to the edge of a 1000′ vertical cliff. Wikipedia details on Horseshoe Bend of the Colorado River. Also, notice the blue arrow pointing towards two parked vehicles to provide some scale to the expanse of the area.

   Full disclosure, I DO NOT like heights !!  Nevertheless, the tripod was set up at its lowest height so I could remain close to the ground.  The camera and tripod are assembled with the widest lens I have and even prefocused well back from the edge of the cliff.   I moved the camera and tripod so the front leg is less than 3” from the cliff’s edge and set about composing the photograph.   By now my heart is racing, being under the dark cloth composing the image my breathing becomes elevated which fogged up the ground glass every few seconds. I would have to back away from the camera to let the glass clear only to return again to compose and check the focus of the image about a half dozen times.  Once the shot was composed I now had to close the lens and set the shutter, as I recall a terrifying experience reaching around to the front of the camera from one knee, not once, but twice as I always expose two sheets of film identically. 

   After the 2 negatives were exposed I snatched the tripod and quickly withdrew from the cliff’s edge to a safer location.  Once the equipment was stowed away in my backpack I headed over to meet up with Jack who had been watching me from a safer vantage point. When I got to him he asked if I was aware of the huge “undercut” exactly where I had placed the tripod ??   No, I did not realize there was a considerable undercut.   I thought there was 1000’ of sandstone supporting me and the camera, in reality, the ledge I was perched on hung out about 8-10 ft, and I was on the wrong side of the undercut !  

5×7 Deardorff camera 90mm Schneider f 5.6 Super Angulon lens, #Ilford FP4film,  G filter, PMK Pyro

   I returned some years later, this time with my really big camera, the two cameras at the time are shown in this photo:  This time around I went farther to the right of the center outcropping for a different view as well as finding a safer vantage point.  This 7×17″ image was made during a November 2003 trip to the Arizona Strip area. 

   Negatives from that trip gave birth to the Extreme Minimal Agitation technique I perfected for use with modern thin emulsion films.  Some of those negatives were lost to poor execution of that technique.  With the refinement of the EMA technique, this 7×17″ negative demonstrates staggering clarity and micro-contrast common to the EMA process.

Folmer Schwing 7×17″ camera, 9.5″ Goerz Dagor lens, J&C 200 film, Semi-Stand processed in PyroCat HD.

Like with other wilderness and backcountry areas I have been to, technology and crowds have ruined the experience for those respectful of the dangers of the outdoors. Averaging 2-3 deaths per year at Horseshoe Bend a viewing platform and railing system was completed in July of 2018. The railing provides a safe viewing area but does not prevent some to simply walk the rim to other unprotected vantage points.  Sadly, the railings were needed to protect people…from themselves !!  Nevertheless, 5 months after the platform viewing area was completed and opened a vacationing family from California reported their 14-year-old daughter missing on Christmas Eve. In the cruelest of ironies, a helicopter rescue team recovered her body 700 ft below the rim on Christmas Day, the tragedy is rumored to be a result of an ill-advised “selfie”. 

   Fortunately, I don’t suffer from any disabilities, at least below my shoulders. Yes, I did take some risks for my two images but not without reducing the risks as best I could. The area I chose had an upward incline and much of the time I was on my knees to prevent a slip or fall. I was barely 40 yrs. old, a little more nimble but not as wise.  Presently, there is an access way being constructed under the ADA, Americans with Disabilities Act.  So, this area will now have wheelchair access !  

   Likely there will be some naysayers, but as one who at times has not given the terrain or the elements the respect they deserve, there are areas that simply should remain wild and accessible to only the skilled and cautious traveler. Unless of course, you wish to collect a $10.00 parking fee at the newly constructed Horsebend parking lot, most likely the underlying reason for wheelchair accessibility !!

   You reach a point where your own limitations and common sense need to prevail.   Years back leading up to my Angel Arch adventure (linked here) I actually endurance-trained for a 2-day 26-mile hike. Just ask my college-aged daughter who came home with her girlfriend to find me mowing the front lawn wearing a loaded backpack…needless to say, she was embarrassed beyond words !!