Agaves

On April 29, 2002, a wildfire ignited south of the Sonoita Valley, a rolling savanna of grass and oak and mesquite in the high Mexican borderlands of southeastern Arizona. Driven by fierce winds, the so-called Ryan Fire eventually consumed nearly 40,000 acres, including more than 80 percent of the Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch, an 8000 acre parcel of magnificent grassland now managed as part of the sanctuary system of the National Audubon Society.

Following the fire, the ground was blackened by ash. Agaves and yuccas were scorched, as were some of the biggest sycamores and cottonwoods on the sanctuary. During May and early June, black dust devils rose from the land, revealing a grassless mars-scape of rocky, red soil.

These photographs were taken in the days and months following the Ryan Fire. At first, fire-scarred agaves provided the only indication of life on the ash-covered hills. I was drawn to photograph them in part to avert my eyes from a scene that could only be called desolate, and in part to create a memorial to a landscape I had grown to love. The transformations of color and shape wrought by the fire created what to my eyes were life-affirming, powerfully evocative patterns.

I returned to the Ranch frequently from late April onward, to watch the land, to wait and to record the slow recovery. These images record a transformation that was at once expected, natural and miraculous.

Portfolios:  Secrets    Wildflowers    Light Forms / Earth Forms

Events    Press    Books    Notecards    About Stephen Strom

Installations    Home    Inquiries

Recommend this website to a friend!

© 2000 - Text and Photographs - Stephen E. Strom