Occasionally I have shared and written about photographic images that have a significant historical background story to the location. Such is the case with this month’s Story Behind Every Photograph. I enjoy the aspect of researching the history behind a particular location made famous by notable photographers. On the site of this image, not far from my vantage point stood two of the biggest names in photography, albeit, during the infancy of the medium. By in large the genre of photography I gravitate towards grows smaller with every new iteration of electronic capture device. Nevertheless, standing on the same ground as the immortals is inspiring, and I likely will never tire of the experience !!

     White House Ruin is the most famous of the Anasazi Indian cliff-dwellings and is located within Canyon de Chelly National Monument (pronounced “canyon d’shay”). Today, Canyon de Chelly is a National Monument sitting in the middle of the Navajo Indian Reservation in northeastern Arizona. The historic setting continues to be home for many Navajo families utilizing the canyon’s resources to make their homes. Canyon de Chelly is home to more than 2500 archeological sites ranging from 1500 B.C. to 1350 A.D. and is considered one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in North America. Among these sites are several hundred Anasazi Indian village ruins built between 350 and 1300 A.D. After 1100 A.D. the Anasazi built dramatic masonry cliff dwellings in caves and recesses in the canyon walls. Within 200 years the Anasazi civilization would mysteriously vanish. They are two popular theories suggesting why the Anasazis began to vacate the canyons about 1300 A.D. There is viable evidence documenting a historic drought leading to their demise. A second credible theory suggests violent nomads began a systemic assault on the Anasazi culture, and likely the reason their dwellings moved to the dangerous access points high up on the canyon walls. To fully appreciate, not only the hike down into the canyon but the scale of the cliff dwellings location and the difficulty in gaining access see the Red arrow and color snapshot from the parking area indicating the size and location of the cliff dwelling.

     This month’s story deals primarily with three photographers who had the good fortune to visit and make their own interpretation of the cliff dwellings framed by a majestic sandstone wall. My photograph is the most recent, and clearly by the least notable photographer. Back in 1996 my wife and I visited Canyon de Chelly during her February school vacation. The White House Ruin trail is the only accessible trail in the park where a Navajo guide is not required to accompany non-Navajo visitors. The highlight of the trip for my wife is visiting the numerous Navajo woman displaying and selling their handmade turquoise jewelry, usually found in the most touristy areas. We set out on the 2.7 mile switchback trail dropping in elevation about 550 ft to the canyon floor. Up on the plateau parking lot there were numerous signs saying do not leave valuables in your car. With that I took my backpack and camera not expecting to make a photograph in the early afternoon with the sun so high in the sky.

     I was aware of Ansel Adams famous image of White House Ruin seen below, however, I had no intention of making an image of my own in the harsh noontime sun. The enormous canyon wall was in full shadow when I reached the canyon floor and not very exciting. That is until the sun unexpectedly peaked over the plateau ridge above and washed the monolith face with mid-day sun. The glancing light simply electrified the canyon wall, textures and shapes like that are intoxicating for this photographer so focused on creating dimension in his imagery. It would have been irresponsible not to make a photograph !

     I quickly setup the Deardorff camera knowing that type of light doesn’t stick around very long until the wall washing effect disappears. It appears that I was at a more extreme angle to the wall and cliff dwellings than the more famous image made by Ansel Adams. My setup was dictated by the skipping light across the surface of the canyon wall. I chose a 300mm lens as my focus was on the texture and the criss-crossing striations of the canyon wall. For me, the intersecting shapes and tonalities became the focus of the image over powering any historical rendering of the cliff dwelling itself. With the camera pointing upward with only a single coated lens I used the dark slide to shield the front element of the lens from the sun. Having never been there before I didn’t wait for the shadowed part of the wall to change and went ahead and exposed the 5×7″ Tri-X film. I packed up the camera knowing full well there was something special on my film. I found the wife still enjoying the Navajo turquoise jewelry to her heart’s content. It’s easy to see, light can dramatically change the look of essentially the same location as seen in the snapshot I took when the sun came around and spilled sunlight across the entire monolith.

     Following is copied text from my own copy or Adams’ book, “Examples, the Making of 40 Photographs”. In 1941 Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes appointed Adams “Photo Muralist” to photograph various impressive areas within the National Park System in the hopes of increasing popularity in the National Park system. Adams traveled to Canyon de Chelly in 1942 and came upon this scene with the sun high in the sky. He quickly set up his 5×7” camera (the same film format I used) using a wider lens than I used. As he quickly proceeded through the steps of setting up the camera he thought only of composing the image and determining what tonalities and contrast he wished to present the final image in. In Adams’ own words direct from my copy of Examples. “Only when I had completed the prints [of this image] months later did I realize why the subject had a familiar aspect: I had seen the remarkable photograph made by Timothy O’Sullivan in 1873, in an album of his original prints that I once possessed. I had stood unaware in almost the same spot of the canyon floor, about the same month and day, and at nearly the same time of day that O’Sullivan must have made his exposure, almost exactly sixty-nine years earlier.” Adams’ photograph differs from O’Sullivan’s; Adams included a triangle of sky in the upper right corner and used a filter to darken the sky and cliffs.

     Timothy O’Sullivan, 1840 – 1888 came to prominence during the Civil War while working for the famous Civil War photographer Mathew Brady. O’Sullivan left Brady while in his mid twenties and joined the Army Corp of Engineers. By 1871 he lead his own commission of photo explorations west of the Rocky Mountains to the picturesque Southwest. Below are internet renderings of Adams’ White House Ruin along side of O’Sullivan’s similar rendering. In a Christies Auction of October 2018 Timothy O’Sullivan’s version, titled Ancient Ruins in the Cañon de Chelle, New Mexico, 1873 sold @ auction for $68,750.00, while in the same auction Ansel Adams White House Ruin, Canyon de Chelly, Arizona sold for $20,000.00.

     Final thoughts on these three renderings from the same location. A case can be made that both O’Sullivan and Adams’ versions were born from an assignment perspective, both approached the subject matter from an artistic point of view and were successful in their imagery. My rendering, would have never happened if not for the dramatic lighting. I was fortunate to hear a famous advertising photographer tell me, “we photographers are charged with capturing a 3 dimensional world and presenting it in a 2 dimensional medium”. There is no greater tool to create a sense of depth and texture than directional light. Certainly I would value owning either of the two more famous images of White House Ruin. For me, I most enjoy my rendering portraying the textures and magnitude I find in the grand landscape of the Southwest.