Photographs of the American Southwest

Guest Post by Travel Writer Gail Johnson

Edward M. Fielding’s photographs of the American Southwest remind me of the time I’ve spent in this region.

Despite visiting different countries around the world, exploring different cities and coming across diverse natural wonders, I am still convinced that the United States is one of the most diverse as well as most beautiful countries around the world.

As an American, I spent most of my life taking this fact for granted. I dreamed of escaping the US and almost always looked to other countries when I thought about traveling around the country. But then, I started traveling more in my own country. A road trip here and there, one weekend after the other.

And guess what? I discovered that some of the amazing landscapes, the coolest cities as well as the most interesting people were right here in my country the whole time. And after a few years in a row of making a point of traveling within the United States, I have identified my favourite part of the country: The American Southwest.

The American Southwest is loosely defined. It usually includes Arizona, and then parts of New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and sometimes Nevada and the tiniest silver of California. Whenever I think about this region, I usually think about the desert and red sandstone as well as ties to the America’s native people. I think of tiny towns and weak cell phone signals. And I think of the national parks as well as sweeping landscape.

Humans have lived in what we now call the American Southwest for centuries, making a wide impact on the land, much of it visible from aerial as well as satellite photography. Nuclear detonation, housing subdivisions, oil exploration, hydroelectric facilities, solar power facilities, roads, mines, farms, ranches, cities, and town have altered most of the land over the years thereby creating various land forms. Taking a tour around American Southwest, you would have an amazing experience of photography because of the different land forms which you will come across in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah as well as Nevada.

1. A housing development in Henderson, Nevada, south of Las Vegas.  

2. A straight road cuts through the dunes of White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.  

3. A spiral trail to the rim, then down to the crater floor of Capulin Volcano at Capulin Volcano National Monument, New Mexico.  

4. Rainbow Acres, a small development south of Quartzsite, Arizona.  

5. Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, near Nipton, California.  

6. The Boneyard in Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona.  

These awesome landscapes and many more provide an outstanding experience for a tourist who aim to see the diverse landscape as well as the richness of United State of America. It also shows the great value which the country has when it comes to tourist attraction. Additionally, for landscape photography and other forms of photographers, American Southwest is worth seeing because it would provide an outstanding experience which can be captured with the aid of photographs and shown to the world. This will amaze student photographers and make both photographers and tourist have great desire in visiting the American Southwest.