And so I’m back from outer-space and blogging again. Although it has been a while since my last posting, don’t be fooled, I have been busy working on a number of projects; the blog just wasn’t one of them…
Now on to new business. A few weeks ago thevisualCollective and I traveled to the remote and incredibly beautiful Havasupai reservation deep within the Grand Canyon. About a 10-12 mile hike in with all your gear for three days, I decided to go light. I only brought one camera with one lens and a small tripod. The Canon AE-1 with a 28mm fixed lens was the weapon of choice. I shot one roll of Kodak TX-400 (my go to film stock), one roll of Illford SFX 200 (kind of a faux infrared) and several rolls of Fujichrome slide film (one of my new favorites)
What follows are some of my personal favorites from the trip, there are many more but these are my personal pick…
The above image is of the indomitable Mooney Falls. Much photographed and strikingly beautiful, this was probably the highlight of the trip for me.
After climbing through several travertine caves, one must descend the side of this cliff face to reach the bottom of Mooney Falls. Although not as high as Angels Landing, it was just as nerve racking…
One of the ‘ladders’ used to scale the slippery, travertine cliffs.
Looking out of the last cave
From the bottom. Water spray was a major factor this close to the falls, good thing my AE-1 is adventure ready, even if it gets wet there is nothing to go wrong, unlike my much more expensive digital set up…
A little further downstream. Knee-deep in the stream with my camera on a tripod about 4in. from the water.
The Havasupai village post office. This is the last place in the U.S. where the Postal Service delivers mail by mule. Soon to be a thing of the past, I sent several post cards which get a unique stamp…
At the rim of the canyon, the other end of the post route…
Some rock formations
Additional rock formations on the hike out…
Some infraredish trees
The Havasupai’s way of life depends heavily on the mules and small horses that bring almost everything into their remote part of the world. The hike is very unique. The low thunderous sound of hooves is heard then suddenly a train of these animals comes running by. The choking dust and barnyard oder are constant companions on the sometimes narrow trail. This is one of the best hikes I have ever done (and I have been a lot of places)
The Havasupai people are kind of a strange dichotomy. Stuck between two worlds and cultures. They live in their Traditional part of the world, and maintain many aspects of Traditional life, but even they are not above/beyond the reach of modern, western culture. Christian Missionaries have been here for a very long time (as is the case with many Native cultures) but now even MTV can permeate the deep recesses of the Grand Canyon. I found that the above shot sums up the conflict of cultures very well.
Our fearless leader, Matt Beaty. The rock wall near camp reflected the morning light so well I had to grab a shot.
Kelsey can sleep anywhere, including this bench in the Havasupai village.
Most of the travelers taking a break on a large rock…
That’s it for now. To see more participent images head over to thevisualCollective Facebook page here. Or for the Daily Affirmation’s (just a daily portrait) head over to thevisualCollective’s photography page here.
Until next time…
Taylor Mahoney Photography 