Photo essays from Arizona’s desert communities. Photography-first storytelling, minimal text, the image doing the work.
Long before cowboys and pioneers, Native Americans were the epitome of the spirit of the West. They first learned to cultivate crops from the dry, brittle desert floor, and it was their ways that allowed pioneers, miners and cowboys to survive in the rugged Southwest.
Springtime in the desert is unlike anywhere else on Earth. Landscapes that appear brown and barren one day seem to explode overnight into bursts of yellow, fuschia, magenta and white.
Ask any tourist what brought them to Arizona, and you’ll likely hear something about the more obvious attractions: the Grand Canyon, the weather, and spring training et al. Anyone living in the desert knows, though, that it’s the unassuming things that make Arizona special.
I first noticed Scott Baxter’s work in 2012 as I made my way through the halls of Sky Harbor Airport. Homesick and weary from a long trip abroad, I looked up to see black and white portraits and scenery he’d captured for his Centennial Legacy Project, “100 Years 100 Ranchers.” He’d managed to depict Arizona ranch life so vividly and provocatively that I wanted to grab the nearest person by the shoulders and exclaim, “This is my home! These are my people!”
Writer Amanda Christmann Photographers Peter Coskun and Paul Gill [dropcap]W[/dropcap]e often hear about the magic
Writer Amanda Christmann Photographer Herb Cohe [dropcap]D[/dropcap]riving through downtown Cave Creek, it is not difficult
Beautiful and breathtaking. Dynamic and dangerous. That is the natural world around us. Here in America, we experience the glorious diversity of nature firsthand. The North boasts of freezing temperatures and high snowfall during long winter months. The Southeast features impressive and terrifying hurricanes. The Midwest succumbs to tornadoes that can stretch a mile wide. And the West finds itself rattled by frequent earthquakes of all magnitudes.
When people think of Phoenix, they don’t think of green pastures or of golden prairies…
As the sixth largest state, totaling 113,998 square miles, Arizona provides an extensive terrain to explore and admire.
As Arizona’s winter comes to an end, our flowers get to work saying hello to the world…