“One function of the American imagination is to reduce the American landscape to size, to fit that great expanse to the confinement of the emigrant mind. It is a way to persist in our cultural being. We photograph ourselves on the rim of Monument Valley or against the wall of the Tetons, and we become our own frame of reference. As long as we can transform the landscape to accommodate our fragile presence, we can be saved. As long as we can see ourselves on the picture plane, we cannot be lost.”
N. Scott Momaday, The Man Made of Words, p. 97
View of Delicate Arch, to the left, and the surrounding desert landscape with sandstone formations, under a cloudy sky at Arches National Park.
Scenic view of the Colorado River near Moab, Utah, winding through a desert landscape with rocky cliffs on the right and a blue sky with clouds above.
Ravens Roost on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia- a lone tree on rocky terrain overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains with a dramatic sky with clouds in black and white.
Roaring Run Creek in Botetourt County, Virginia, with moss-covered rocks flowing through leafless trees in early spring.
Sunrise over the Peaks of Otter with fog below, bare trees in the foreground during late winter along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
The rolling green hills of the Lamar Valley at Yellowstone National Park, with dark storm clouds overhead.
An alternative black and white photo and perspective of McAfee's Knob, with a cloudy sky, along the Appalachian Trail in Virginia.