Moccasin Arch, a 30-foot opening in de Chelly sandstone in the backcountry of Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. Reaching it requires a Navajo guide — this is not on the self-drive loop, and the arch sees a fraction of the visitors the valley's famous buttes do.
In black and white the image becomes a study in surfaces. The de Chelly sandstone is cross-bedded — laid down as wind-blown dunes some 250 million years ago, then cemented, and the diagonal lines of those ancient dunes are still legible in the rock face. Weathering has since pocked it with small hollows, and the arch itself is the end point of that process: water and wind working at a weakness until it opened right through. In the foreground the sand carries fresh ripples, and a piece of weathered wood sits where it came to rest. The whole frame is one substance at different stages — sand that became rock, rock returning to sand.
A note on presentation: black-and-white landscape has traditionally lived on a matte surface, where tone and texture do the work. On a glossy surface the same image becomes something else — dimensional, luminous, contemporary. Metal spans the full range from matte through semi-gloss to gloss; they are different objects rather than better and worse.
ChromaLuxe Metal — Dye-sublimation suits high-contrast monochrome: whites come off the aluminium with real brightness through the arch, blacks stay dense in the recesses. White Glossy is the high-gloss white base that amplifies colour, and the most popular choice for vibrancy; White Semi-Glossy gives a soft shine with rich colour; White Matte holds colour vivid with minimal glare.
Also available in: Standard Acrylic version · TruLife Acrylic version · Gallery Metal version · Fine Art Paper version
Made to order · Allow 2–3 weeks for production and delivery · Shipping charged at cost, never marked up · Shipping & Returns
The watermark shown here protects the online image only. Your print arrives clean.
Moccasin Arch, a 30-foot opening in de Chelly sandstone in the backcountry of Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. Reaching it requires a Navajo guide — this is not on the self-drive loop, and the arch sees a fraction of the visitors the valley's famous buttes do.
In black and white the image becomes a study in surfaces. The de Chelly sandstone is cross-bedded — laid down as wind-blown dunes some 250 million years ago, then cemented, and the diagonal lines of those ancient dunes are still legible in the rock face. Weathering has since pocked it with small hollows, and the arch itself is the end point of that process: water and wind working at a weakness until it opened right through. In the foreground the sand carries fresh ripples, and a piece of weathered wood sits where it came to rest. The whole frame is one substance at different stages — sand that became rock, rock returning to sand.
A note on presentation: black-and-white landscape has traditionally lived on a matte surface, where tone and texture do the work. On a glossy surface the same image becomes something else — dimensional, luminous, contemporary. Metal spans the full range from matte through semi-gloss to gloss; they are different objects rather than better and worse.
ChromaLuxe Metal — Dye-sublimation suits high-contrast monochrome: whites come off the aluminium with real brightness through the arch, blacks stay dense in the recesses. White Glossy is the high-gloss white base that amplifies colour, and the most popular choice for vibrancy; White Semi-Glossy gives a soft shine with rich colour; White Matte holds colour vivid with minimal glare.
Also available in: Standard Acrylic version · TruLife Acrylic version · Gallery Metal version · Fine Art Paper version
Made to order · Allow 2–3 weeks for production and delivery · Shipping charged at cost, never marked up · Shipping & Returns
The watermark shown here protects the online image only. Your print arrives clean.
