photo caption: Firescape IX: Holman Hill Burn in First Snow by Sharon Stewart. Digital photograph, 2022.
I hadn’t expected to see the charred and flooded remains of the land I knew so intimately in this exhibition. In photo after photo, I saw the story of what had happened—a story still in progress as spring runoff and summer thunderstorms bring more flooding and more erosion. The photos revealed culverts twisted beyond recognition, tractors and backhoes stuck in flood zones, massive plumes of smoke rising over vibrant green land, and sunflowers growing along arroyos.