WAY OUT WEST

WAY OUT WEST COVER

WAY OUT WEST Artist Statement by Daniel Driensky

TWIN YUCCAS, WHITE SANDS NEW MEXICO

Yuccas are among the only plant life that grows at White Sands National Monument and I loved the way they broke up a landscape with a different color and texture. I composed this shot as to capture the two yuccas as they grow in unison under the New Mexican sun. They are relatively the same size and will most likely continue to grow at the same rate due to proximity, so I've labeled them 'Twin Yuccas'. The shot is also composed so that the divide of the spread across the zine splits them perfectly apart, and it appears almost as if you are viewed two separate photos placed next to each other.

EL COSMICO, MARFA TEXAS

EL COSMICO, MARFA TEXAS I wandered around the property of El Cosmico motel in Marfa just around sunset in December of 2011. I loved the way the light would play off of the various RV trailers and plant life. What "grabbed" me about this shot was the funky hand chair next to the door and the makeshift shower in the far left of the image. The sunlight subtly breaks through between the two and gently illuminates the fingers of the hand chair, as well as the plants on the ground. Blue also happens to be my favorite color.

CADILLAC RANCH, AMARILLO TEXAS

Cadillac ranch is a site I have visited several times since I started in photography. I think there are several ways it can be photographed and I ran through nearly all of them on this trip. This shot was my favorite of the bunch and I actually took it while I was walking away and leaving the field to go back to my car. I wanted a shot that A) included all ten Cadillacs, and B) dwarfed them in scale. After taking hundreds of shots that day, moving around the cars and painstakingly waiting for the shot to be free of people, I saw this scene as I was walking away and decided to include the people. This was the beginning of my thinking to include the tourists with photo-worthy scenic shots. Capturing the capturer, and on occasion, capturing the capturing of the capturer (taking of photo of someone else taking a photo) as in this photo to the far left.

LAGUNA, NEW MEXICO

I was worn out from driving so I stopped and switched with my girlfriend/travel mate so she could drive awhile and I could relax. I kept my camera at my feet in the passenger side just "in case" something interesting came along. As the sun was setting, I was mesmerized by the angular light of the on the landscape and saw several interesting compositions worthy of a photo. After taking several, I noticed this small pueblo church approaching on the horizon. I photographed it more and more and it came into view and then a few moments later, came parallel to the car window. I rolled the window down as not to get bug-gut residue in the frame, and snapped. Later on when going to view my photo of "the church on the hill", I gasped. I had not only captured the church on the hill, but a whole town of quaint dwellings where people *live*. A few moments later I noticed a watertower that read LAGUNA, and this is the only way I was able to identify this gorgeous location when retracing my steps.

SOLITUDE, WHITE SANDS NATIONAL MONUMENT

White Sands is a place I will always respect for its chameleon-like beauty, as in, everytime the sun moves, the lighting on the dunes changes, and you are fascinated all over again. In this moment, I noticed the light changing once more just before sunset. I raised my camera to capture the serene beauty and noticed a single man standing on the horizon. In that instant, we were connected. Not connected with each other, but connected in that we had both just discovered a very specific type a solitude: solitude where you are witnessing intense, fleeting beauty, beauty that you *know* is fleeting, and all you can do is watch it die. The most intense part of the whole situation is, you have no one to share it with. Even if you are taking a photograph, it will never compare to actually being in the moment, feeling the cool desert wind and dying heat of the setting sun.

TWIN TEEPEES, EL COSMICO, MARFA TEXAS

El Cosmico is known not only for it's funky RV motel rooms, but also various other types of dwellings one can stay in. I was most intrigued by the teepees available for rent. You enter them, and realize you are essentially sleeping on the ground with a cover around you. What I liked most about this concept, is that one can experience a new kind of "roughing it" while visiting one of the quirkiest towns in Texas. I have yet to stay in an El Cosmico teepee, but I imagine it would definitely affect my whole mind set, for better or worse, while photographing one day after I had awoken in a teepee, or had one to look forward to after a hard day of shooting.

DESERT FRIEND, MONUMENT VALLEY UTAH

One May morning after waking up at sunrise to capture the sun coming up behind "the mittens" at Monument Valley, I walked to the adjacent diner next to The View Hotel. Breakfast was buffet style, and pretty much cold by the time I had gotten there. I left the diner feeling very unsatisfied, but happened to have my camera with me (yes it is necessary to always be prepared, even at breakfast in your pajamas) and ran into this lizard on the way back to the hotel room. I first took a shot from several feet away, assuming he would dart off after realizing I was close to him. But as I took a photo, moved closer, took a photo, moved closer, he never flinched. This was something I had never witnessed: a wild-yet-domesticated reptile. I captured this one last photo from a couple of feet away while he was standing in a perfect beam of light then let him go about his business.

GRAND CANYON DESERT VIEW, ARIZONA

The Grand Canyon is one of the most photographed natural wonders in the world, and this was apparent to me even while I was photographing it. People of every age and nationality stepped up next to me on the observational platform, taking photos with everything from a professional SLR camera, to a phone, right down (or up?) to an iPad. I watched visitor after visitor come up, take their photo, look at the gorgeous view, then step away. I realized that even though I spent more time with the natural wonder than they did, we were essentially capturing the same photo. I wanted more. I wanted to capture the people capturing the canyon and include them in my photo. I moved to higher ground and composed my photo to include the tourists because I feel that is more true to how it feels to be there. I did however, compose the photo to include them way down in the lower corner, as not to "ruin" the gorgeous landscape for the casual viewer.

FOOD SHARK, MARFA TEXAS

While visiting Marfa, I could tell instantly that it was unlike most destinations in many ways. One of the most apparent things that stands out is the lack of variety when it comes time to eat, but the places that do exist are very different. Food Shark is a food truck that parks "under the pavillion between the railroad tracks and Marfa Book Co" and people come out of the woodwork to dine there. One of the popular items is the 'Marfalafel', a juxtaposition of Marfa and a falafel. Food Shark only accepts cash or check, and to add yet another quirk, change is given back in $2 bills and silver dollars.

PRADA MARFA

Prada Marfa was built as an installation art piece in 2005 by artists Elmgreen and Dragset, who intended to let it decompose naturally, and fall back into the landscape over time. Their idea was corrupted when, 3 days after it was completed, vandals broke in and stole the shoes/handbags and graffitied the exterior. Now the glass is bulletproof (I could tell because there were several bullets stuck in the glass where people had attempted to shoot it out) and there are surveillance cameras inside and out. Though it is located 30 miles outside of Marfa, it is in the middle of nowhere so Marfa is the town it claims. Definitely worth a visit if you happen to be way out west.

MONUMENT VALLEY SUNRISE, MONUMENT VALLEY UTAH

I set my alarm to wake me up at 5:30am on the morning that I took this photo. As soon as it went off, I leapt out of bed at The View Hotel, a hotel that is on the reservation where Monument Valley is located, and this view can be seen from nearly every balcony of the hotel. The sun was still below the horizon when I woke up, but the glow from it was already there. I grabbed my camera(s) and went outside in my mis-matched pajamas to join a surprising number of other spectators and hotel guests who had the same idea I did. I photographed the sun as it went from a slight glow to a ball of fire on the horizon. I snapped away in total silence as 15 other pajama-clad tourists around me watched the same sight I was seeing. We were all speechless and well aware that this was an experience we would not soon forget. As the sun started to get a little higher above the horizon, the other tourists dispersed to go start their day and I was left wanting more. I walked further down the path so that the sun would go behind one of the mittens, and this caused a moment of photographic illusion as the light appeared to be separating the "thumb" of the mitten, and the sunlight appeared to be "beaming" at me with awesome flare. I photographed this for a few minutes when I saw my blessing coming down the long winding road: a single truck leaving a beautiful trail of dust for the light to play in. A feeling overwhelmed me as I snapped the photo...the feeling a capturing a perfect moment that came together right before my eyes.

NEW MEXICO MUSEUM OF SPACE HISTORY, ALAMOGORDO NEW MEXICO

Upon eating at a small diner in Alamogordo, I noticed on the border of the menu that there were illustrations of attractions in the area, and one listed was The New Mexico Museum of Space History. I looked it up on gps and it was in fact within close proximity to White Sands where I was planning on exploring that day. So I explored White Sands until about 1pm when I could not longer bear the heat, and headed to the NMMOSH for refuge from the sun. Upon arriving there, I had no idea there would be such cool artifacts to explore. There are several old rockets and rocket parts out front, as well as a 5 story building chock full of space tchotchkes. I highly recommend stopping in during a visit to White Sands to hide from the sun for a while.

THE BRAIN, WHITE SANDS NATIONAL MONUMENT

White Sands has literally thousands of dunes within the park, and only a few of them are walked over on a daily basis. Upon leaving my car from the road that goes through only a small portion of the park, I noticed nearly every dune in sight had an amazing wind-pattern on it that had been ruined with footprints strung across it. I realized though, hiking back a few dunes I found the perfection I was looking for. I shot this photo an immediately was transported to another world. The lines were so perfect and close together that my vision began to see moire movement, and it was almost dizzying. The delicate and intricate lines reminded me of wrinkles on a human brain, and I felt as though I was walking across a giant white brain, creating memories with my steps.

THE LITTLE GIRL AND THE COWBOY, WHITE SANDS NATIONAL MONUMENT

Upon arriving at White Sands on my second day, I saw many tourists who were all immersed in their own bliss, taking advantage of the endless dunes in their own way. It being March and me being sensitive to the bright hot sun, I was walking around in shorts and a hooded sweatshirt. The cool breeze kept me from sweating and the hood kept me from getting sand in my hair when the wind would pick up and sling grains of sand at you. I spotted this large trailer off in the distance (about 200 yards away) and moved toward it as it were some kind of mythical mirage. I got closer and saw the man in the cowboy hat setting up his roping practice steer and waited for the action. I watched him over and over try to rope this thing all the while his young daughter (I assume) was wondering on the top of the dune above. I shot several pictures attempting to capture the shape of his lasso as he swung it around, and this one ended up being the shot capturing a perfect split second moment: the little girl is in mid step, the cowboy in mid lasso, both in their own worlds in one of the most interesting places on earth.

THE WORLD'S LARGEST CHILI AND THE CHILI VAN

While making the drive from White Sands back to Dallas, TX it was getting late and I wanted to rest for the night before attempting the journey across Texas the next day. Near the border of New Mexico and Texas sits Las Cruces, New Mexico, a cool little city which seemed like as good of place as any to stop and stay the night. I didn't want to stay in a big name hotel and pay lots of money, so I took to Yelp to find the top recommended motels in the area. One that stood out as very highly recommended was an America's Best Value Inn on West Picacho drive. It seemed "iffy" on the outside in the dark of night, but I figured Yelp exists for a reason and I might as well give it a try. I entered the lobby and felt immediately at home. The man working the front desk, David, spoke in an Australian accent and seemed like a cool person you want to know and call a friend. It turns out, he and his wife Elina bought the inn a few years back and totally renovated it. They added a huge garden in the open-air courtyard, revamped the rooms and pool, and constructed what you see here: The World's Largest Chili. The very idea of this gives you some insight as to what cool and quirky people they are, and this motel was a wonderful blessing to just happen upon on a long road trip. To take it one step further, the couple added a secondary chili to their VW Bus to match the large one. So if you're driving around town and you happen to see "The Chili Van", follow it back to America's Best Value Inn and hang out with some of the coolest people in town.

JOHN FORD POINT WITH COWBOY

There's a place in Monument Valley, Utah called "John Ford's Point" where director John Ford used to sit and gander at the massive rock formations, and it is said to be one of his favorite places to film from in some of his western classics like 'The Searchers' and 'Stagecoach'. Today, there is a navajo horseman who will ride to the edge of the butte as tour buses arrive, and you can pay him $2 to sit upon the horse yourself and have a photo taken. While walking up to this amazing vista seen in this photo, I noticed him slowly trotting up to the edge with his horse and knew that was the picture I wanted. I snapped several shots until he got just to the edge, stopped, and raised up his hand to adjust his hat. To give an idea of scale, the light colored "line" that goes from the cliff just below him and across the picture is a road, and the tiny dots along that line are cars.

GRAND CANYON WITH DESERT VIEW WATCHTOWER, ARIZONA

The light at Grand Canyon is almost always mesmerizing it some way. On this day, I was planning to "stop by" the Grand Canyon before catching the sunset at Monument Valley, but the light play kept inviting me to stay and I ended up missing the sunset that evening. I composed this particular shot to have a sort of "man vs. nature" feel. Upon scanning the image from left to right you may feel this photo could have been taken thousands of years ago, and as you reach the far side, you notice the encroachment of humans and their hand in altering the landscape.

BIG TEXAN 72OZ STEAK RANCH, AMARILLO TEXAS

I've always thought the gimmick of this place was fascinating: "Eat an entire 72oz steak, a baked potato, and a salad in under an hour, and its free!". Well thats a lot of food! But to add to the carnival aspect of it, you must perform this attempt on a raised stage in front of the entire restaurant, with huge red digital numbers counting down the time you have left. I composed this shot so the cattle is right in your face as you view the photo, but also carefully included the Texas flag as a pop of color and Texas pride.

SOLITUDE II, WHITE SANDS NATIONAL MONUMENT

The end of any day at White Sands is always otherworldly. The footprints become meteor craters on the moon, and the light fades fast as if you are being abandoned on a strange planet. I placed this image toward the end of the zine because it represents "light fading" and a departure toward the close of the day....and the book.

MONUMENT VALLEY SUNSET, MONUMENT VALLEY UTAH

As sun must rise every morning, it also must set. This is the second image I placed toward the end of the zine because it represents another loss of light, the end of the day for a light chaser. I also purposely included this image as well as the "Monument Valley Sunrise" to show my favorite place in the US in different forms, the first with a trace of human life, this one void of it. The people have returned home for the day. Will they ever return?

COMET PAN-STARRS AND CRESCENT MOON OVER WHITE SANDS NATIONAL MONUMENT

The close of the zine is the sunlight's final attempt at existence, a beautiful gradient over the dunes and distant mountains of White Sands. I kept one eye on this sunset, the other on my car which was quite a ways off in the distance, and I had no flashlight with me. The light was low, so I had a tripod and was making these few-seconds exposure while trying to balance the tripod so it wouldn't sink too far into the sand and tip over. I was standing at the top of a dune, slipping down its backside, causing mini avalanches of sand to fall as the earth was attempting to suck up my feet. It was only later after I made it back to my car that I realized "comets chase the moon, and there was supposed to be one visible tonight" and I zoomed in an spotted the tiny speck to the left of the moon: Comet Pan-Starrs.