if there is, in fact, a heaven and hell, all we know for sure is that hell will be a viciously over-crowded version of phoenix— a clean well-lighted place full of sunshine and bromides and fast cars where almost everybody seems vaguely happy.

hunter s thompson. “generation of swine”

i lost it in paradise valley. i have lost the word, the way, the light…. you have to lose it somewhere, i chose arizona.

charles bukowski. “mockingbird, wish me luck”

i am waiting for the second coming and I am waiting for a religious revival to sweep through the state of arizona, and i am waiting for the grapes of wrath to be stored, and I am waiting for them to prove that god is really american.

lawrence ferlinghetti, “i am waiting”

the southwestern united states is a visual oasis. aside from urban areas such as la, san diego, vegas, the valley of fire, tucson, santa fe, flagstaff, sedona, etc….it includes amazing deserts… the sonoran desert, the mojave desert (including joshua tree national park), west texas/big bend area…mountain areas such as the mogollon rim in az, chiricahua mountains in southeastern az, the san bernardino, san jacinto, san gabriel mountains (among others) in southern ca, escalante in southern utah, as well as my favorite northern arizona, up on the navajo, hopi, and apache reservations, including monument valley, the grand canyon, canyon de chelly, the petrified forest, painted desert, and much of the white mountains.….among others areas…. also, in the valley of fire, phoenix az, there is amazing collection of murals, graffetti, painted storefronts, and assorted other “wall painting" that color the city….these are some of images i have taken over the last number of years, mostly digital, but i hope to upload transfers from film in the near future and digital shots soon…