I traveled to Arizona on assignment. My expenses, minus your typical out of pocket costs — snacks, fuel, that Negro Modelo I had with my enchiladas, the enchiladas etc. — were paid for by Arizona Tourism.
It’s easy to get all snarky about how “This place is ruined by all the tourists.” There are crowds, that’s true. But they’re not impossible to avoid, plus, there is something so delightful in being surrounded by people who are almost universally made better by wonder. It’s like everyone is saying, “We are in this place, this great temple of nature, let’s grab this moment because we are going to want it forever.”
I project, of course, it’s my way. But I loved watching the repeated theater of friends and family posing each other in front of the Grand Canyon which hangs from the sky like a great matte painting that doesn’t even look real.
I love this. ‘Nuff said.
There are those who, on the advice of the photographer, take that one fated extra step back. The last step, as it were. There was a teacher from Miami, where I live, off to the Grand Canyon on a vacation with friends… Horrible as it would be to be the person whose portrait was being done, it might be even worse to be the photographer-friend.