THE MITTENS
NAVAHO TRIBAL PARK, ARIZONA
Image Number 214
Monument Valley on the Utah-Arizona border provides the most enduring and definitive image of the American West. The isolated red mesas and buttes surrounded by empty, sandy desert have featured in over 47 movies, most famously the John Wayne movies directed by John Ford.
This image was captured from the View Hotel which was built in 1998 on the site of one of John Ford’s most iconic filming locations. The elevation at The View Hotel is approximately 1,582 meters. The “Mittens” (buttes which resemble fingerless gloves) rise over 328 meters above the desert floor. Monument Valley is located within the Navaho Tribal Park which is the semi-autonomous homeland of the Navajo Nation. The Park occupies an area greater than the state of Connecticut. The View Hotel, owned by the Navajo Nation, is the only hotel in the Park.
TECHNICAL NOTES
Captured at dusk by from the View Hotel on a Zeiss Contax 645 medium format camera with Zeiss 55mm wide angle lens at F8 with an exposure of half a second. The ISO rating was only 35, thereby ensuring comprehensive detail. File size 260 meg, 8 bit. The image has been cropped top and bottom. The colours have not been manipulated and correspond with transparencies exposed at the time on the same camera for reference purposes.
Signed and numbered by the photographer in a limited edition.