PebbleCreek Post
This feels like one of those small moments that are easy to dismiss, but are worth pausing to appreciate.
A few days ago, a copy of the PebbleCreek Post showed up with one of my photographs featured as the Camera Club Photo of the Month. The image they selected was New Horizon, a photograph made with a 4×5 view camera on motion picture film as part of my ongoing project, Finding Estrella.
The article describes the project as documenting the gradual disappearance of views of Estrella Mountain as development continues to expand across the western edge of the Phoenix area. That’s certainly part of it, but seeing the work summarized in a local newspaper reminded me of something I sometimes forget while making photographs.
Most of these images begin very quietly.
They start with driving around early in the morning, getting lost down industrial roads, stopping at places that don’t seem particularly remarkable, and asking a simple question: can I still see the mountain from here?
Sometimes the answer is yes. Sometimes it’s barely visible. Sometimes the view has disappeared entirely.
What has kept me interested in the project is that it has gradually become less about the mountain itself and more about the changing conditions under which the mountain can be seen. The mountain remains. The landscape around it changes. The experience of encountering it changes with it.
I never expected a local newspaper clipping to become part of the project’s history, but in a way it feels appropriate. Finding Estrella is rooted in this community and this landscape. The work isn’t about distant places. It’s about paying attention to the place where I live and noticing how it continues to evolve.
I’m grateful to the PebbleCreek Camera Club and to Lynn Warren for featuring the photograph and taking the time to write about the project. Photography can often feel like a solitary pursuit, especially when working on a long-term project. It’s encouraging when others connect with the work and understand what you’re trying to explore.
Now it’s back to the road, back to scouting, and back to searching for the next view of Estrella Mountain before it changes again.
— Terry Schmidbauer
