Lonely Horse

By the time I reached this point on the Monument valley trail I knew that my little 2 door economy rental car was not up to the job of off roading. The sand was getting everywhere. I pulled up in a flat area with a lot of local trader stalls. I think it's called John Ford's Point or something. It was getting towards the end of the day and I watched the last little wannabe cowboy spend his last paper dollar on the horse ride. I hung around whilst people slowly disappeared because the place is so amazing to be in.

Composition is obviously the product and positioning of elements within a frame. it's guided by certain rules whose meanings get beefed up even further through the appreciation and use of 'Mise en scene'. I was sort of lucky with this one. The sign had to be in the shot and close enough to read, and I wanted the horse to look withdrawn and lonely. it was just a case of moving around with the hand held 6x7 whilst looking through the viewfinder until the composition came together. The colours demanded that this was to be a colour shot. Not only that but I wanted the sign to stand out against the background.
It was one of the few occasions that I didn't dupe the shot with black and white film.

End of another day for the little Navajo horse at Monument Valley

Location: Monument Valley Utah

Photographer: Christopher Hartford

Buy this print online:

Up to A4+ - £30.00 Small Clip Frame - £8.00