Stone & time
Reading a valley, one shape at a time
A view becomes more interesting when it turns into a question.
Start with a question
What made that shape?
It is an ordinary question, but it changes a photograph. The walls stop being a backdrop. The space between them starts to feel like a clue.
The National Park Service describes Yosemite's landscape through granite and glacial erosion. That gives the view a history beyond the moment captured in the image.
Look at different scales
Begin with the outline of the valley. Then follow the forest along the floor. Finally, find the waterfall against the rock.
Each pass tells a slightly different story. The first is about shape; the next is about texture; the last is about the relationship between something enormous and something that almost disappears inside it.
Leave one thing unresolved
A good observation does not have to close every question. Sometimes the useful thing to keep is the question itself.
Look once for the view. Look again for the story behind its shape.
Continue with the Yosemite Valley collection entry.