Castle Rock Trail, Capitol Reef, Utah 1962

This is a photograph by Minor White, of rocks on the Castle Rock Trail, Utah. He’s working in monochrome here, and I love the almost brutal, sedimentary feeling of it. I wonder what it was like to make this picture. What was he thinking, out there on the trail? Was he as moved by these forms as I am? Did he see how the stark light could make the scene at once so solid, yet also so fragile. I can imagine him moving around the rocks, trying to find the perfect angle to capture this collision of textures, mass, and light. Look at the way the light hits the rock in the center, and the contrast with the dark pockets that surround it. It’s a gorgeous balance. For me, the starkness of the black and white image is so powerful. You can see him in conversation with other photographers like Ansel Adams, but doing something all of his own. It's exciting to see how artists build on one another’s work and find new ways of seeing the world.