I'm thrilled to have been able to contribute to the The Art of The Rural (new window) blog with a panorama of an installation at Gray Mountain, Arizona (new window) by Chip Thomas (new window). I thought it could be used as a link accompanying a January 11, 2012 post on Chip's work, and was I surprised it got a separate post (not complaining, mind you - thanks, Matthew!).
From far away in North Carolina, I had admired Chip's work for some time. His work pops up on buildings and other structures from the Rez to Flagstaff to Phoenix to Tucson. His tools are simple - oversized photocopiers and wheat paste. His images of people who live in threatened communities carry dramatic impact in and of themselves. Given their size and in-your-face locations, you can't avoid the message the carry.
Read more about Chip's work on his blog yo mama!, and on Art of the Rural here, here and here.
The back story on the image is a fun one. While visiting NAU in October 2009 for homecoming and to meet with photography students, I talked my friend the incredibly talented Seattle Times photographer Erika Schultz into accompanying me on an evening expedition to photograph his work on some abandoned fuel tanks near Gray Mountain, AZ, about 45 minutes north of Flagstaff.
It was quite the scene, with the lights of the vehicles traversing the long slope from the San Francisco Peaks toward the Little Colorado River crossing at Cameron, AZ and the Milky Way wheeling overhead.
Now that I'm back in the West, living in Tucson, I look forward to seeing more of Chip's work, and perhaps even meeting him in person somewhere along the paths where his work pops up from time to time.
Tech talk:
Nodal Ninja 5 panorama head
Nikon D700; AF-Fisheye Nikkor 16mm f/2.8; ISO 1600, 30 sec. @ f/2.8
8 images - 6 around, 1 up, 1 down
Acquired in Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw
Stitched with PTGui.
Output to Flash with Pano2VR
Fuel tanks painted with Nikon SB800 strobe
