I am honored to have the editors at National Geographic’s Top Shot choose my photo for the September 20, 2016 Daily Dozen, and have it go on to win Top Shot, as seen in the Editors’ Spotlight on National Geographic’s website, Instagram’s Your Shot, and Tumblr’s Your Shot.
“An August afternoon storm in Colorado Springs along the Front Range of the Rockies. This photo was taken from our deck at sunset, thus the incredible colors,” said Mabe. “The composition was limited as the storm was very fast and severe, so driving out for better shot was not an option. I don’t usually shoot color, but this storm was powerfully stunning!”
Shiprock is a dramatic 7,177-foot-high rock mountain located in northwestern New Mexico about 20 miles southwest of the town of Shiprock. Geographically speaking, the rock reveals the exposed neck of a long vanished volcano that erupted over 30 million years ago and is easily recognized from a distance for its towering profile. To the Navajo people, Shiprock has greater significance than being known only as a geographical landmark.
The Navajo call Shiprock, “Tsé Bitʼa,” meaning Rock with Wings. From a distance, Shiprock looks like a large sitting bird with its wings folded to its sides. Legend says that a gigantic bird carried the Navajos from the icy northern lands to the Four Corners area. This story’s significance in placing the Diné (Navajo people) within their homeland is a core spiritual and cultural belief that allots Shiprock far greater meaning as a sacred landmark than one of only mere geographical interest. There are many examples of North American areas where prominent terrain and incredible geographic vistas intersect with Native American religious and historical beliefs. A Native American Omaha/Cherokee man I met last year refers to these areas as “Sacred Geography.”
His name is Taylor Keen. This past December, Taylor presented a fascinating lecture on Sacred Geography here at Colorado College in Colorado Springs. Taylor is writing a book titled, Rediscovering America: Sacred Geography, the Ancient Earthen Works and the Real Story of America. Taylor’s lecture, and his book, discusses how ancient Native cultures used scientific methods to understand their world and their place within it. He gave an account of how ancient Native American people were highly sophisticated in intertwining religious belief with scientific understanding through awareness of the seasons and celestial movements. They demonstrated this understanding through their use of Sacred Geography.
According to Taylor, “Native peoples of the Americas, and their unique history, art, culture and cosmologies are the most misunderstood topic in these United States.” During his lecture, Taylor shared his experiences and scientific conclusions regarding Native people’s use of archaeoastronomy, sacred algebra, and algorithms in orienting and constructing earthen mounds used for religious, ceremonial, and burial purposes. At the conclusion of Taylor’s lecture, I began to see that the spiritual inspiration I feel through my lens when photographing our beautifully austere western landscapes is but one layer of a much deeper historical and scientific connection linking us to ancient civilizations and their Sacred Geography. I highly recommend attending one of Taylor’s lectures to those that might have a chance to do so. Taylor is also heading an effort to preserve sacred seeds and the traditional planting ways of Native Americans.
Sadly, unbridled encroachment of our lands, including those considered ground zero for Sacred Geography, is proceeding at an unrelenting pace. In southeastern Utah, Bears Ears, a pair of buttes located in San Juan County, is sacred to multiple tribes as a century’s old gathering place for Native ceremonies. These buttes are threatened by mining, drilling, and vandalism and should be designated a National Monument to prevent further destruction. Short term economic considerations cannot continue to take a front seat over the significance of Sacred Geography. According to Richard Moe, who was president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation from 1993 to 2010, “Bears Ears represents the most important and intact array of unprotected cultural resources on federal land. And those resources are increasingly at risk — from looting, vandalism, off-road vehicles, grave robbing and the occasional carelessness of visitors.”
There is hope. A newly formed Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition comprised of Hopi, Navajo, Ute, Mountain Ute, Ouray Ute, Zuni, and Uintah Tribes has established a goal to conserve Bears Ears. The Coalition has proposed a U.S. Presidential National Monument under the Antiquities Act of 1906 that would so designate and protect this historical and sacred area. The Bears Ears Monument would encompass 1.9 million acres of starkly beautiful ancestral land on the Colorado Plateau that would permanently preserve this Sacred Geography for future generations.
In closing, I offer the thoughts of well known author, Terry Tempest Williams, who shares her perspective on the importance of Bears Ears. Tempest states, “…the Bears Ears National Monument proposal honors the deep residency of native peoples living inside the Colorado Plateau. The tribes are asking each of us to acknowledge an embodied intelligence born of the land that warrants as much respect and protection as the wilderness, itself. The Bears Ears National Monument Proposal has the potential to transform Utah’s rancorous politics of place into an ethic of place for generations to come.”
For those wanting to help preserve Sacred Geography while adding their voice to designating Bears Ears a National Monument, you can make your wishes known here.
This photo was taken in the spring of 2015 with an infrared converted Nikon 7100, then processed in photoshop with Nik filters and Flypaper Textures.
This Native American legend of the Garden of the Gods was compiled a half century ago by Ford C. Frick, and placed on file at the Pioneers Museum, Colorado Springs, Colorado:
“In the nestling vales and on the grassy plains which lie at the foot of the Great White Mountain that points the way to heaven lived the Chosen People. Here they dwelt in happiness together. And above them on the summit of the Mighty Peak where stand the Western Gates of Heaven, dwelt the Manitou.” (Manitou is the spiritual and fundamental life force understood by Algonquian groups of Native Americans.)
“And that the Chosen People might know of his love the Manitou did stamp upon the Peak the image of his face that all might see and worship him.”
“But one day as the storm clouds played about the Peak, the image of the Manitou was hidden…And down from the North swept a barbaric tribe of giants, taller than the spruce which grew upon the mountain side, and so great that in their stamping strides they shook the earth.”
“And with the invading host came gruesome beasts – unknown and awful in their mightiness- monstrous beasts that would devour the earth and tread it down.”
“And as the invading hosts came on, the Chosen Ones fell to the earth at the first gentle slope of the mountain and prayed to Manitou for aid. Then came to pass a wondrous miracle. The clouds broke away and sunshine smote the Peak. And from the very summit, looking down, appeared the face of Manitou himself. And sternly he looked upon the advancing host, and as he looked the Giants and the beasts turned into stone within their very steps…. And when the white men came they called the spot the Garden of the Gods…but we who know the history of the race still call it ‘Valley of the Miracle,’ for here it was that Manitou gave aid to save his chosen.”
This image was made with a Nikon 7100 SLR converted to infrared by Life Pixel with a 720 filter. It was processed via photoshop.
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
― Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
I snapped this image in 1998 for an advanced photography course I was enrolled in while living in Tampa. One day on a whim while collaborating with friend and fellow photographer, Lori Ballard, this image came to life. We were playing dress up, posing around antiques, drinking champagne, being silly while taking photos in my home. With one press of the shutter release and some time in the darkroom, this image went on to win first place in the Annual Student Art Show.
Everyone has a story to be told and this was when I began telling mine via a camera and its unique way of transforming everyday life into MAGIC.
Please visit Lori’s website, she is an exceptional photographer and friend. Lori Ballard Photography
This image was created using my very first camera, an old Canon AE-1, a first anniversary gift from my husband. I used Kodak T-Max 100, 100TMX, Black & White Negative Film, ISO 100, which I developed and printed in a campus darkroom. The image was shot indoors in natural light next to a window, my favorite light.
The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: A human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive. To him… a touch is a blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is a god, and failure is death. Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create — so that without the creating of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, his very breath is cut off from him. He must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency he is not really alive unless he is creating. ” — Pearl S. Buck
I’m thrilled to be the Photographer and Website Coordinator for the One Nation Film Festival(ONFF) which will be an annual event held in Colorado Springs, CO beginning in 2016. The festival will focus on Native American and global indigenous issues through Narratives, Documentaries and Student Short Films.
ONFF consists of a variety of subjects and genres to showcase work of independent filmmakers and is set amidst the stunning backdrop of Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
We will be kicking off our festival with a concert by Frank Waln, a Sicangu Lakota Hip Hop artist, producer, and performer from the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota.
Kelly Holmes, Native Max‘s editor in chief, will be hosting a fashion show as part of the One Nation Film Festival during the After Hours Party on April 2.
This festival should be of interest to filmmakers, film professionals and others who wish to further their support and knowledge of important Native American and global indigenous perspectives through the medium of independent film.
One Nation Film Festival’s goal is to educate the public through films that positively portray the culture and history of Native American and global indigenous peoples using creative visual and written media. With the help of its fiscal sponsor,
One Nation Walking Together, ONFF seeks to improve understanding and deepen appreciation for indigenous peoples’ values, perspective, and history.
The 2016 One Nation Film Festival will take place April 1st and 2nd, 2016 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. For tickets to any of these events, click here: Tickets
Denver was my birthplace and I grew up in the small (then) rural farming area surrounding Johnstown. As far back as I remember as a girl in Colorado, fires were almost non-existent. Oh sure, we would have occasional wildfires, but nothing resembling these past few years and all were confined to more mountainous locations.
I live in far Northern Colorado Springs, pretty much directly east of the USAFA, with a full view of the Front Range on the western side, and the Black Forest on the northeastern side, which gave me photographic access to two of the worst fires in Colorado history.
On June 23rd 2012, at about 12:30 pm, my family and I noticed a small spiral of smoke directly west of our home in the Waldo Canyonarea. I snapped a few photos with my phone and went on about the day. Gradually, throughout this first day, the fire increased in size, so I continued to capture photos with my phone. Several days passed and the fire spread. The evening of June 25th, before the firestorm, my daughter and I watched from our deck as the fire jumped the ridge coming the closest yet towards Colorado Springs. I knew this was no ordinary occurrence as flames edged into Queen’s Canyon (the last canyon to the west that sits at a lower elevation nearest to the city). At this point, media coverage and aerial/ground firefighting efforts became intense.
By about 3pm on June 26th, firefighting aircraft struggled to stop the fire’s progress and the outside air temperature spiked at 101 degrees with strong winds. I noticed the fire was moving up to the last ridge above the city and grabbed my Nikon SLR. Since the fire was oriented to the west (into the afternoon light), conditions were not optimum. In my excitement (and as the fire was building into an enraged firestorm), I didn’t take time to set up my camera. By the time it was over, I took 30 sequential photos over a 2.5 hour period spanning the fire’s crest over the ridgeline into the city, its transformation from a fire into a raging firestorm and its movement downhill into the Mountain Shadows, Oak Valley Ranch and Peregrine neighborhoods (where two lives were lost). Hours passed in a blur as my family and I watched the western side of Colorado Springs become engulfed in flames while I documented the fire through my lens (346 homes were lost).
Waldo Canyon Firestorm
The Colorado Springs firestorm of 2012 was an incredible event. If it were not for the pictorial evidence captured via my photos, I doubt I would remember things clearly. For several hours after the firestorm hit, our home and neighborhood were enshrouded in smoke and ash, roads were filled with people trying to escape, and gas stations were overrun with customers. The aftermath of this fire has caused businesses to go under, a constant fear of flooding due to erosion (each time a thunderstorm passes), evacuations due to flooding in and around Manitou Springs, and displacement of families from homes damaged or destroyed. Mountain landscapes are still recovering, but realistically, it will take a decade or more for them to flourish again. I know one restaurant owner whose business dropped off after relocating from Old Colorado City. Three years later, the business is only now beginning to catch on in its new location.
By late 2012 and into the spring of 2013, Colorado Springs continued to deal with the fallout of this fire. Replanting was underway but hiking trails were still closed in Waldo Canyon. Home rebuilding was ongoing and investigation into the cause of the fire continued. As recovery was underway, our community had no idea that yet again unseasonal heat and drought conditions would cause another fire with even greater impact.
Black Forest Fire
On June 11th 2013, weather reports predicted low humidity, high winds, and temperature approaching 90 degrees. At about 1 pm a fire was reported in the Black Forest and the local fire department dispatched fire trucks to the site. One hour later, while looking out an east facing window on the second floor of my house, I spied a massive plume of smoke in the Black Forest just a few miles away. Incredulously, I snapped a photo with my phone and continued to watch while reliving memories of almost exactly a year earlier. This time, I grabbed my Nikon 7000 SLR and Nikon 7000 SLR Infrared Conversion to take bird’s eye photos of this new fire. Unlike Waldo Canyon, I was not shooting into overexposed western light but towards the eastern horizon in the afternoon while using a higher resolution camera. I went without a tripod (again) and shot whatever photos I could over several days. In the midst of this, the neighborhood was on pre-evacuation orders so I was packing my cars and tuning into the local news. On days when the smoke was not blowing through the neighborhood, I managed to capture close-up images of the fire. Finally, on June 12th (a windy day) the fire exploded, jumped fire lines and quickly spread to the east, north, and west. Evacuation areas were expanded from El Paso County to Douglas and Elbert Counties. Although the Black Forest Fire was an inferno it moved at lightning speed and containment did not take as long as Waldo Canyon. Also unlike Waldo Canyon, the weather worked in our favor, temperatures dropped and, thankfully, rains came.
A few weeks after the fire, we drove into the Black Forest. The effects of the fire’s intense heat were apparent – houses sat completely destroyed with their brick chimneys tilted or lying on their sides; cars were blackened and charred with rims but no tires. The Black Forest had the same look as a war zone. One could also sense the speed of this fire – some homes were completely destroyed while others were left untouched. Great swaths of the forest were completely charred and others untouched. Fortunately, some of my friends’ homes survived. One paid presciently to have her property protected by removing underbrush and trees while keeping others spaced well apart – her home was untouched. Firefighters left a note on her kitchen counter thanking her for saving her home while protecting others..
By June 13th, there were 457 firefighters working the fire line, including the Colorado Air National Guard and fire suppression teams from Fort Carson and the USAFA. It took until June 20th before the fire was 100 percent contained with 14,280 acres burned, 509 homes destroyed, and two people killed. News reports said this fire wrought greater destruction than Waldo Canyon and was the most destructive in Colorado history – damage was quoted at over $85M.
I sometimes wonder what the future holds for Colorado. Our communities are doing what they can to mitigate fire but it may not be enough. The pine beetle has caused great destruction and left areas ripe for even bigger fires. High density infringement of new communities within forested areas means greater risk. As a Colorado native, I’ve seen the Front Range change – water shortages, hotter temperatures, economic development and population growth are having an impact that must be carefully managed. My hope is that Colorado will continue to play a role as protector and preserver of our wonderful western landscapes, the wilderness, and the animals that live here. We must be realistic about fire’s impact as it falls within the confluence of all these things that will determine the future of our amazing state.
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