The Center Space

Artwork ID # 2306-36727-26

For photographer Art Twomey who first led me to the threshold of Antelope Canyon over 40 years ago , and who shared with me the stillness and silence found here . Ever since it has created a haunting reverence in my perceptions of light and form. For me it became a spiritual place, long before it became famous and instagrammed to death,

Here, in Upper Antelope canyon, the way the sun enters and reflects off the walls of this subterranean chamber is almost mystical. It often evokes in me a sense of a hidden presence.
Focusing my gaze at the quickly shifting hues I was shocked by how fast the colors faded in one area while becoming stronger somewhere else. By keeping my gaze steady for several minutes I felt like I was watching a movie in slow motion'
I began to realize that some of the colors which seemed very subtle and barely visible to my eye might be best recorded on film by using a very long time exposure, allowing the tints I could just barely perceive to linger and paint the sandstone walls.
So I exposed a film frame for nearly six minutes, and it worked especially well to reveal the shades of purple, which are actually created by the reflected blue skylight mixing with the orange-reds of the surrounding walls. When I processed the film the various shades of purple were indeed clearly visible, It worked !

The magic of how camera and film can see more elements of light than that which are visible to the human eye .

Arizonaslot canyonUpper Antelope CanyonNavajo sandstone