When a Photographer Goes on Vacation

Nestled in an alcove under a sandstone cliff, the Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde is a testament to the ingenuity of the original inhabitants.

Most people enjoy taking photographs of their vacation travels, but as someone who takes photographs for a living, it’s nice to put the camera down for a few days. That being said, some destinations are just too awe-inspiring and call out to me to be photographed. Mesa Verde was one of them.

The detailed stonework has held together for centuries.

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.

A few summers ago, I visited the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde in southwestern Colorado. Constructed by the Ancestral Puebloans nearly 800 years ago, these are some of the oldest buildings in North America. Cliff Palace is the largest of such dwellings.

One of the things that struck me about Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde is the human scale of the architecture. When you see the doorways, windows, and social spaces, you can imagine the original inhabitants going about their lives, protected from the elements by the cliff.

A detail of the original combination of existing stone and added bricks.

Many of the residential buildings I photograph are modern and recently built, so it’s a fun contrast to observe and shoot these ancient structures. Careful preservation and restoration efforts have allowed these buildings to remain accessible to visitors.

Light and shadow help define the massing of the buildings.

Visitors must descend down a ladder in order to reach Cliff Palace.

The view of Mesa Verde from the cliff dwellings is simply amazing.