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Wade Thorson
I am a landscape and travel photographer based out of Flagstaff, Arizona. I've been making images since my father owned a local camera store in the 80's. Although my photographs are from far and wide, my heart lies in the Southwest's Colorado Plateau.
I had driven by the sign many times, but never had time to stop. This trip I made a special point to visit the Toadstools of Escalante National Monument. The sun was hanging low in the November sky when we arrived late Saturday afternoon. By the time I hiked the mile or so up the wash to the formations, the golden hour had begun. The ‘toadstools’ are hoodoos formed from the darker, harder Dakota Sandstone that caps the pedestal of softer Entrada Sandstone. The cap serves as a shelter from erosion and over time creates fascinating other-worldly formations.
I was there to meet the silent statues that have stood against rain and snow and sun and wind for eons. To feel the relentless glare of the sun slowly and methodically softening and cooling. From white to yellow to orange to pink. To see the long shadows creating definition, emphasizing every grain of sand and stalk of weed. To watch the reflections from the cliff faces illuminate both sides of the formations in pastel shades of brilliant colour. I came for the light show but left having made some portraits of some of the oldest individuals on the planet.
