Dune, White Sands National Monument, New Mexico c. 1942 - 1981

This gelatin silver print was made by Ansel Adams, portraying a landscape in White Sands National Monument, New Mexico. It’s so beautiful, it looks like a painting. Imagine Adams out there in the bright sun, setting up his camera amidst all that white sand! He’s searching, waiting for just the right light to capture this scene. What I love about it are the shadows, those long spindly fingers reaching across the dunes. Look how they contrast with the stark whiteness, creating shapes within shapes. You see the little plants sticking up everywhere? Adams immortalized them, making them almost monumental against the huge, sweeping landscape. It reminds me of Georgia O'Keeffe, another artist drawn to the New Mexico desert; she's drawn to the light and space, finding something both grand and intimate in that landscape. It’s a conversation between artists, each interpreting the world in their own way. It’s like, the desert whispers secrets and Adams and O'Keeffe listen, and then they tell us through their art.