End frame: Raplee Anticline and the San Juan River, Utah by Christopher Brown

Russ Davis

I’m a retired software engineer spending as much time as possible camping and photographing in the American west.

russdavisphoto.com

When I first became interested in landscape photography, around the end of the last century, I started searching for information about my new hobby anywhere I could find it. I noticed an advertisement in the newspaper for a presentation of landscape prints at a local art centre and was intrigued by the name “Contemplative Photography”.

I didn’t know at the time how much that presentation would shape my photography in the future. The prints that day were by Christopher Brown a local, large format, fine art photographer, printmaker and photography instructor. One print in particular that got my attention was “Raplee Anticline and the San Juan River, Utah.” At the time I didn’t exactly know what attracted me to that image but it really spoke to me. After years of studying photography and art composition, I now realise the reasons why this image grabbed me. The leading S curve of the river and foliage, the multiple layers of eroded rock, the lovely colour palette and the curving diagonal lines of the Raplee Anticline in the background all draw your eye around and through this picture.

The prints presented that day were Cibachromes, also new to me, and it felt as though you could walk right into the photographs. The colour, depth and radiance of the polyester based prints were superb. When asked to write about a photograph that influenced and inspired me, this image came to mind immediately.