"Photographs of the American West"

Michael Light’s astonishing photographs of the American West, at Craig Krull, are neither fairy tales of untouched splendor nor horror stories of desecration. They are both at once — vast, aerial views of marvels and mistakes, often within the same frame. While the images could easily be enlisted to support any number of environmental causes, they are not arguments in themselves. They don’t clamor or plead. They show, as Light puts it, “What We Do,” as humans, as Americans.

Above: Michael Light's photograph of Barneys Canyon gold mine in Utah (2006).