I’ve been photographing natural landscapes in the Southwest for 15 years now, but only recently did I seriously consider its urban landscapes.
It started last January when I signed the book deal for Arizona: A Photographic Journey. The publisher requested photos of the downtown areas of Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tucson, as well as Tombstone, and within a week I was setting out to photographically explore the pavement and high rises.
As a “nature photographer”, this always felt outside my wheelhouse. I felt I belonged in the wild lands, not the big city. And it was a great challenge for me.
With the deadline to submit my photos set for February 1st, I only had a couple weeks to explore, take photos, and post-process them. It wasn’t much time.
It was awkward at first, to walk around the streets, composing photos of subjects I would normally despise in a nature photo: cars, roads, lamp-posts, billboards, even people. I spent a lot of time that time walking and observing, hardly pulling the camera up at all.
But that’s how we learn and grow, getting put into uncomfortable positions and adapting. To be honest, I’m not great a putting myself into those situations. Sometimes it takes an assignment from a publisher, I suppose. And so I went and I walked, and eventually I found some great things to take photos of.
This photo is one of my favorite scenes I found along the way, a view of the Phoenix skyline from Heritage Square. Of course, I didn’t get this particular photo until February 17th, so it didn’t make the deadline for the book. But it’s all good. I was inspired by the bustle of downtown Phoenix to keep going back outside of contractual obligations.
May our creative inspirations keep ever expanding. I hope you enjoyed this Daily Dose of the (Urban) Southwest.
Much love,
-Jake
Sign up to get the Daily Dose of the Southwest delivered directly to your email inbox every weekday.
