Arizona: Carol Highsmith's America

This is a landmark year for me and my work for the nation’s esteemed national library: the United States Library of Congress. It marks my 40th year exploring the back roads and urban quarters and remote pathways of every state, visually documenting America for the greatest body of knowledge and creativity on earth. No state is uniform. Each has its wonders and special attractions and idiosyncrasies. You’d think arid, often sunny and brutally hot Arizona would be the exception. We’ve all seen the Western movie shootouts amid the cacti and on the streets of Tombstone. We know the stories (most quite true) about its critters: rattlesnakes and gila monsters and scorpions and spiders the size of your fist. And of course I lingered above the awesome shades and shadows of the mile-deep (and more) Grand Canyon, and the gorgeous sunsets and red-rock canyons of one of my favorite spots on earth: austere Monument Valley on the lands of the Navajo people. But I was just as captivated by Arizona’s lesser-known gems, including: the longest-surviving remnant of the Mother Road, the legendary two-lane highway from Chicago to Santa Monica that retains neon vestiges and quirky roadside attractions – including a teepee motel – from the grand days of family travel. obscure, nearly inaccessible marvels such as Havasu Canyon and its FIVE waterfalls, and The Wave, a swirling formation so fragile that just TWENTY (yes, TWENTY) visitors a day are allowed to behold it. snowy mountain peaks and cotton fields, copper mines and architectural pearls, including Frank Lloyd Wright’s western home and studio. Arizona has world-class observatories, Native and eclectic art and funky murals, universities and nuclear plants and medical labs, airplane boneyards and a piece of the mighty Hoover Dam. I captured them all and will never forget this alluring land of Saguaro cacti and Ponderosa pines.