Western Colorado Through the Lens of Edward Kunzelman
It was not long after photography was invented in the 1830s that fine art painters worried photographers would put them out of business. After all, why would someone employ a person to spend long hours making a reproduction of a person or landscape when a camera could do so in just a few minutes, and largely with greater realism and accuracy? Oddly though, by the later 1800s, photographers were using all sorts of tricks, like using soft focus lenses and scratching film negatives in the darkroom, to create prints which emulated the work and style of painters.
When Kodak color film was introduced in 1935, the demise of black and white photography was widely anticipated. Once again, color photography was more real, more natural and more like how a person sees the world than black and white. But color film took a while to gain popularity.
“I can get a far greater sense of ‘color’ through a well-planned and executed black-and-white image than I have ever achieved with color photography,” Ansel Adams wrote in 1967.
When Photoshop and digital photography replaced film and traditional darkrooms, the ability to enhance pictures with simple software adjustments turned our view of the world through pictures into an explosion of color. But much like the painters who will always have a place in the art world, so too will black and white photographers.
The title “Red Rock Country” did not get that label for no good reason. The canyons, especially when lit by sunrise or sunset, reflect brilliant shades of red, yellow and orange, as if the rocks were on fire. That is what catches most everyone’s eye when visiting our parks and monuments.
But beyond spectacular colors, “The Monument,” as known by locals, is painted with an abundance of light and shadows and textures, which is where black and white photographs have timeless appeal.
Mesa Lakes area of Grand Mesa National Forest
Colorado National Monument as seen from the Tiara Rado area in the Redlands
Connected Lakes State Park in Grand Junction
Mesa Lakes
Canyon Rim Trail • Colorado National Monument
Monument View, Colorado National Monument
Mt. Garfield
View of San Juan Mountains from Lizard Head Pass
Originally published in the Winter 2021-22 issue of Spoke+Blossom.