Dune Waves. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Waves of sand dunes retreat toward distance desert mountains, Death Valley National Park.
As photographers, we often take a great deal of photographic license in our creative interpretations of subjects. It is a myth, quite frankly, that some kind of objectively “pure” version of a photograph even exists. And if such a thing did exist, it seems like it would usually be a pretty boring thing for everyone except those using photographs as evidence of a thing. Most of us prefer photographs as a mode of expression, a sharing of the photographer’s way of seeing the world. I like to think that a good photograph or group of photographs tells us more about the person making the images than it tells us about the putative subject.
Sand dune landscapes lend themselves especially well to this way to this approach. While they do have a real geological appeal, when you look at them from an aesthetic perspective they are perhaps less about the fact of sand and more about light, line, weight, form, and color. They are never the same — the light changes, the conditions alter them, and each of us sees them differently. In this interpretation I decided to work in high-key and monochrome, hopefully creating a photograph that reflects the quiet stillness of the static wave forms of the dunes.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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