Navaho Indian Reservation, Arizona 1960

This photograph, taken by Minor White somewhere in the Navaho Indian Reservation, Arizona, turns the natural world into something abstract through the use of stark black and white tones. The process of finding and framing this image seems just as important as the image itself. The texture of the rock is so present, you can almost feel it. It’s rough, solid, and permanent. The white lines cutting across it are sharp and intrusive. They remind me of a drawing, like something scrawled across the surface, but this is geology, not geometry. Look how the lines vary in thickness and intensity, some fading in and out. It's as if the earth itself is a canvas, and these veins of mineral are like brushstrokes, or maybe even drips. White was interested in spirituality and often looked to nature for answers; artists like Agnes Martin also spring to mind. He transforms a simple rock formation into a complex meditation on time, change, and the marks we leave behind. It reminds me that art is not just about making, but about seeing.