…The first panoramic stitching program wasn’t introduced into computer software before 2000, so the pictures from which this Grand Canyon panorama was created weren’t taken for that purpose when I hiked the Kaibab Trail in 1976. I scanned my 45-year-old Kodachrome 35mm slides in 2021, not realizing that the views were suited to a panorama. What a pleasant surprise it was to discovered that the images blended perfectly. This scene is from a spot below the series of switchbacks that descend steeply from The South Kaibab Trailhead, and the section of the trail that is visible in the distant center of the image is the South Kaibab before it drops to the Tonto Plantofm and to the inner gorge before corossing the Colorado River and joining the North Kaibab Trail which continues to the north rim.
The Grand Canyon was an enigma that required several visits before I was able to capture a photograph that I felt captured the feeling I had for it, and I never felt tha any photographer captured its essence in a single image, despite the fact that many beautiful photographs of canyon sunset, and selected views have been made over the years. I believe it is impossible to produce a true sense of grandeur simply because that challenges human perceptions and defies photographic perspective. Thomas Moran painted the Grand Canyon in a way that has best captured it for me, and I spent a long time studied his work in an attempt to discover what I had to do to achieve a similar viewer response in a photograph. In my opinion, it’s all about interpreting the light and creating a perspective that is only understood by being there. I still haven’t been able to do that.
Several years ago, I applied for an artist-in-residence on the north rim of the Grand Canyon, and waasn’t accepted. That was the only residency for which I’ve applied that was rejected, and the Park ho longer offers north rim residencies. But, the north rim is my preferred venue if I ever have an opportunity to stay there for a week or two when the atmospheric conditions are favorable.
