2018.12: Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, California, USA

Location: Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, California, USA

Date: 2018.12

Photographer: Jesen

Camera: Nikon

Retouch: Adobe Photoshop

Copyright: www.haomingxiong.com

Not many national park features can say they were celebrated in a 1969 film of the same name, but Zabriskie Point claims that honor thanks to director Michelangelo Antonio. It’s easy to see why the spectacular views in this corner of Death Valley have inspired creatives from Antonio to the cinematographers behind 1960’s Spartacus to U2’s Joshua Tree album. A flashpoint for 1970s counterculture, even philosopher Michel Foucault rhapsodized about experiencing Zabriskie firsthand. Here you can see the rumpled badlands unfurl beneath the Panamint Mountains, hinting at when Death Valley wasn’t known for its dry heat but was shaped by the flow of ancient creeks and lakes, and later erosion. Keep your eyes pealed for Manly Beacon (named for one of the original 49’ers who came to Death Valley searching for gold), the wedge-shaped outcropping below Zabriskie point that’s set off beautifully at sunrise or sunset, when the walls of the canyons here gleam as if from within.

JESEN Photo