The canyon calls you. Just one more bend, then another. Moving deeper toward some secret heart of wilderness- a place imagined, something even more magical than before, a better place, a better world, just around the next bend...then the next.

In this way exploring wilderness is synonymous with exploring the landscape of the mind. Like the mind, a red rock canyon is organic- yet fixed; fluid- yet set in stone; a labyrinth of surprising twists, turns, and sudden drops. As the poet Gary Snyder has written, wilderness and the human subconscious are one and the same.

The irony of modern life is that we seem to be drowning in a flood of information, while at the same time dying of thirst for anything significant. Seeking certainty and security, suddenly we find we have neither. We wander lost in a box canyon of our own making, and wonder if this bewildering maze of conflicting interests will ever give way to open country.

At such times it's important to remember that far from the blaring lights of our consumer society, there is an ancient pre-existing world, a world made not of time clocks, "Reality TV," and shopping malls, but of bed rock, sand, wind, and sunlit grass. This world with its revolving seasons, its roots running back to the Pleistocene and beyond, is the true birthright of the human race. It is our one true home, where we evolved, and when we stumble across a remaining fragment, we recognize it deep in our genes by an immediate sense of wonder, healing and resounding peace.

If I had to choose a single phrase that describes my work it would be a quote from the poet Rumi, who said, "Let the beauty we love, be what we do." As an artist I try to dig deep within my own experience and "render visible what lies beyond appearances." I read with amusement the statements of photographers who insist their work is a document of "reality," that "what you see is what I saw when I took this photograph." I prefer to leave attempts at scientific accuracy to the engineers, viewing photography like any art form, as a tool of mindfulness and attention, a means to explore all aspects of life on this precious earth.

In keeping with that, I use the finest tools available to capture and share what I discover. Using modern techniques, I strive to build on the classic visual foundation of the past, while hopefully, setting out for new territory.

The images presented here are the result of both film and digital capture. All have been digitally edited then are printed as state-of-the-art archival pigmented ink prints. Surpassing the tonal range, color spectrum, luminosity and durability possible in the traditional darkroom, with proper care, these prints are a collectible heirloom that should bring you and your family pleasure in excess of 175 years.

          -Chris Noble

           Salt Lake City, 2008