89740 Wind Circle - 2001 - a photo on Flickriver

89740 Wind Circle - 2001

            Going back now to the days of film. Back in 2001, I had a contract to shoot a book for the writer Candace Savage. Her book, Prairie: A Natural History, won the 2004 Saskatchewan Book Of the Year award. This image wasn't selected, nor did it make the cut for my own book, Wild Prairie, published in 2005. Admittedly, it's stronger cropped square; in those days we had to submit slides, and cropping options could easily be missed by both the photographer and a busy designer wading through hundreds or even thousands of images for a publishing project. By scanning the image and then cropping it square, I cut out some distracting detail at the top that weakened the image.

Those two book projects were an eye-opener for me, because I was required to visit areas I might never have seen, and quickly became aware of the subtle beauty of the remaining North American prairie ecosystems. Sand hill prairie, oak savannah, tall-grass, rough fescue - the many types of prairie are highly variable and exceptionally rich in flora and fauna where they haven't been plowed under and converted to monoculture (wheat, corn, soybeans, canola). 

Agribusiness feeds people, undeniably, but it also reduces biodiversity. A balance has to be achieved, and for the most part this was overlooked in the last hundred years or more while the land was tilled and the open range fenced off: prairies are the most altered ecosystems in North America. In some places the transformation - you could also call it destruction - has been complete. Only 0.1% of original tall-grass prairie remains in Iowa. Other states and provinces have fared a little better, but in general the intrinsic value of wild prairie has been under-appreciated. 

We need wild places. They spark the imagination; they remind us of our origins. I think the nature and wildlife photographers on Flickr know that wild nature is not something "out there", but rather, the stuff of life - primal and true -  embedded in the core of our being, and something we cannot allow ourselves to lose. 

Photographed in the last light of the evening at Monahans Sandhills State Park, Texas; scanned from the original Fujichrome Velvia (ISO 50) slide. Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 2001 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

Taken in: United States / Texas (show map)

Taken on: November 8, 2001

Tags:

sand

dune

plant

wind

square

crop

warm

evening light

sunset light

simple

graphic

detail

ripples

wild

prairie

Monahans Sandhills State Park

Texas

United States

USA

film

scan

Fujichrome

Velvia

ISO 50

2001

copyrighted

James R. Page « less

Sets appears in: • Best 2001 • Square - From 35mm more » • United States « less

Groups appears in: • Awesome Nature • Natural PATTERNS, Shapes, and Textures (curated) more » • Art of Nature • Earth Images Nature Photography • Nature as Abstract Artist • the naked abstract « less

Stats: 5,357 views / 23 comments

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