When I’m on vacation, I often enjoy a break from using my camera, but I make exceptions for sites as compelling as Mesa Verde.
I’m used to photographing housing complexes, but most of those don’t date back almost 800 years!
The detailed stonework has held together for centuries.
In my work, I am often tasked with photographing new or recently remodeled buildings, but a trip I took a few summers ago allowed me to photograph some of the oldest structures in North America.
Located in southwestern Colorado, Mesa Verde National Park is home to Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings that date back to the eighth century AD. Cliff Palace, the largest of such dwellings, was likely a community center of some sort, featuring both residential spaces and ceremonial gathering areas known as kivas.
I’ve been photographing buildings my whole career, but this experience put a slight twist on my usual architectural photography. The naturally-lit cliff dwellings photograph very differently from an electrically-lit Philadelphia skyscraper.
It is speculated that Cliff Palace may have been a sort of community center, due to a higher ratio of kivas (round ceremonial gathering spaces, such as the ones pictured here) than other such sites.
Photographing a site like this is very different from office buildings, where I am able to move things around and change up the lighting. Unlike my usual assignments, I wasn’t able to use my drone, so the more expansive shots were taken from strategic angles at a distance. Regardless, the view from the cliff dwellings was absolutely amazing, and it was a trip I won’t soon forget.
Visitors must descend down a ladder in order to reach Cliff Palace.
Light and shadow help define the massing of the buildings.