I’m almost 40 plates (wet and dry collodion negatives) into the project and have started my statement about the work. I wanted to share it to show those interested, how I evolve working on a project. For me, it’s important to spend time thinking and contemplating the process that will communicate the ideas and emotions in the photographs. This statement will change and grow as I make the photographs. This is a start, a rough draft if you will, but it gives me a direction and food for thought.
In The Shadow of Tava-Kaavi (pronounced Ta-vah-Kaavh) / Sun Mountain
At dawn, Tava-Kaavi is the first Colorado mountain to catch the sun’s rays. The mountain is over 14,000 (4.300m) feet above sea level. The Nuuchiu believe it’s where Mother Earth meets Father Sky.
The Tava-Kaavi or Sun Mountain is always present here. I call this body of work, “In the Shadow of Tava-Kaavi” because the photographs are all made literally with the great mountain watching over. Nothing escapes its presence. The Nuuchui (pronounced “New-chew”) knew that, too.
In these photographs, I’ve tried to show honor and respect to the Nuuchiu - the Ute people. Most of the work is somewhat abstract and can be interpreted in different ways, but all of the work was made with the Nuuchiu in mind. The places they hunted, the places they sheltered, and the places they practiced their spiritual and cultural way of life.
I consider this land as their land. In my mind, nothing has changed in that way. They honored it and respected it, never taking more than they needed. It’s a beautiful place. In a lot of ways, it’s “other-worldly”. The fauna and the flora represent all that the Nuuchiu loved. Their life here was balanced and good. As I spend time on the land and wander over the rocks and through the trees, I can feel that balance, that good life.
The Nuuchiu/Utes are the longest continuous Indigenous inhabitants of what is now Colorado. According to their oral history, they have no migration story - they’ve always been here. They were placed within their homelands, on different mountain peaks, to remain close to their Creator. Nuuchiu ancestors, in order to maintain transmission of cultural knowledge, taught generations through oral history about the narratives and the names ascribed to geophysical places and geological formations within their aboriginal and ancestral territory.
Plate #1: Whole Plate Platinum Palladium print from a wet collodion negative.
Plate #2: Whole Plate Platinum Palladium print from a wet collodion negative.