Land, sky, and all that is within

The American Southwest has shaped the lives and work of many artists and literary figures over the last century -- Georgia O’Keeffe, D. H. Lawrence, N. Scott Momaday, to name a few -- individuals unquestionably drawn to the unrivaled landscape, moved to express its beauty through the written word or through their art, and forever altered by the experience. The survey of photographers and photography in the Southwest between 1870 and 1970 begins with Timothy O’Sullivan and other late nineteenth-century expedition photographers and ends with the color landscape photography of Eliot Porter. In between are Laura Gilpin’s portraits of Navajos taken during the 1930s and the documentary images of rural Hispanic communities by Farm Security Administration photographers John Collier Jr. and Russell Lee in the 1940s. James L. Enyeart, one of the nation’s most distinguished curators and photographic historians, contemplates the common affinity for the landscape and cultural ambiance of the region by these visionary photographers, even though separated by style, intent, and time. Nineteen photographers in all are represented -- also including Ansel Adams, Paul Strand, Edward Weston -- along with 102 photographs.