Life
Can Be Twisted
As a
photographer, I’ve tried to learn a lot from famous photographers like Emery
and Ellsworth Kolb who went to great lengths to photograph Grand Canyon. Ansel
Adams did beautiful work with his much beloved Yellowstone and his iconic shots
of Half Dome. These photographers still fill my heart with awe with their
written histories of how they got “the shot”, but alas they really never saw
any grand profits from their work. In modern times a fellow from Australia,
Peter Lik, made a few million dollars from the sale of his work at Antelope
Canyon. Until this photo, Antelope Canyon was a less traveled blip in the
Navajo Nation. Antelope Canyon is a “slot canyon” which means if you walked on
the top surface it would be a fissure in the red earth. But approach it from
it’s base, it’s a red sandstone slit in the mountain. The Navajo name is Tse
Bighanilini, which means “the place where water flows between the rocks. What
Peter Lik did was observe that during mid day the sun comes through the fissure
creating a wonderful beam of light which lasts for a very short time. His
Navajo guide tossed some sand into the beam and a “ghost” appeared. This one
shot took the art world by storm a few years ago and he sold “Ghost” for over a
million dollars. Since then, he has transformed that shot into a black and
white version that he titled “Phantom” and has reportedly sold it for $6.5
million.
As we
planned our trip I knew that we had to include Antelope Canyon on our
itinerary. It’s located in the town of Page Arizona which is about the size of
Prestonsburg. Antelope Canyon is not a place you can go to on your own; you
must have a Navajo guide with you. Several tour companies offer tours and we
chose one that offered a special tour designed for photographers. This tour
sold out quickly and we had to book it 6 months in advance.
Slot
canyons can be dangerous places during rainy times. Antelope Canyon has had
several disasters but the worst was in 1997. Eleven tourists were killed during
a tour of Antelope, on a day that skies were clear over Page. The severe
weather was several miles north of Page. Flash floods ripped through the canyon
sweeping everyone caught in it’s path. Sadly, all were killed, except for the
tour guide who by some miracle was able to hold on to a canyon wall. The flood
sucked all of his clothes off, his shoes as well, and he staggered out naked
but alive. Over the next few days 8 of the victims were found downstream in
Lake Powell, but tragically 2 were never found.
Our
tour day dawned gray and cloudy with scattered rain and honestly Don and I were
disappointed. Naturally the highlight of this day would be to capture a photo
like Peter Lik’s, of a beam of sun coming through the slot and that looked
highly unlikely at 7 am. But also I was concerned with the scattered storms I
could see. Frankly that was an experience so different from living in the
hills; you could see rains and storms scattered across the land. We arrived at
the tour company store at 11am after eating our fill of free hotel waffles. I
had taken a friend’s advice and prepared our cameras with camera rain bags
which covered the camera bodies to protect them from the brutal sand and wind.
Our Navajo guide’s name was Sonny and he was a tall, friendly dude who seemed
to like to meet new people and tell about his native land. Our party was ready
to begin our tour and I wondered “just how do we get there and how far is it?”
Well I tell you, you get there in the back of a pickup truck going about 60 MPH
and it takes about 20 heart stopping minutes! Here we are, loaded in the back
of a pick up with 7 other people, 3 from France and 4 from Hong Kong and this
truck is zooming down the streets of Page, cutting hard left and right. Then we
see a hand painted sign that says “Antelope Canyon” and we cut hard left onto a
stretch of red sand. Sonny slowed not a bit, and we careened toward the canyon
and Don and I would glance at each other with our eyes saying “I love you,
we’re going to die”. And we didn’t die. We eventually reached the mouth of the
canyon, a tall, thin slit in the earth. Sonny explained that we must do what he
tells us to do and follow his directions. At any given time there are many
tours in the canyon, I estimated about 150 tourists. The photographer’s tour is
designed to get the photographer to the places in the canyon where the light
streams in, so Sonny had to use some force and strongly worded warnings to get
the other tourists out of our way. And without even worrying it occurred to me
that the sun was shining and there it was, a strong beautiful beam of sunlight.
We
spent three hours with Sonny and the other photographers, finding ways to
communicate with the language barriers. The twists and turns of the canyon are
breathtaking and amazing. The wind and sand often get in your eyes and mouth;
it’s not a trip for the faint at heart. Sonny helped us with our shots, showing
us rock formations that looked like Abe Lincoln, Monument Valley and a heart.
And speaking of hearts and Monument Valley; our hearts were full as we began to
plan for our next place to tour, Monument Valley. The land of John Wayne, John
Ford and “Forrest Gump” awaits!
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