Southwestern United States
AA-2026-492709
On the image
Americans in the 1970s often experienced the vastness of their continent through long drives across landscapes that offered little in the way of specific landmarks. This particular view captures the expansive desert floor leading to mountains hazy on the horizon, an aesthetic choice that speaks volumes about what was considered worth photographing at the time.
The traveller, likely in a family car with eight-track tapes playing, paused to document this stretch of what some might call 'nothingness.' The implication was clear: 'I was here, and it looked exactly like this for hundreds of miles.'
One could argue it's an early form of 'proof of experience,' a visual record that yes, they had indeed traversed a territory where the primary feature was the sheer distance to the next feature, and they lived to tell the tale.
The historian's note
This landscape captures a typical view of the Basin and Range geological province, characteristic of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. These vast, arid basins separated by parallel mountain ranges are formed by extensional tectonics.
The photograph illustrates the sparsely vegetated, high desert environment prevalent in this region during the 1970s, often traversed by interstate highways and popular with travellers seeking open spaces. Such views represent a significant portion of the North American interior, defined by extreme aridity and geological forces. The clear sky and distant visibility are typical of the dry conditions.
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American Southwest Desert Landscape, 1970s. 1970–1979. Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library, AA-2026-492709. https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/american-southwest-desert-landscape-1970s.
@misc{aaAA2026492709,
title = {American Southwest Desert Landscape, 1970s},
year = {1970–1979},
howpublished = {Archive \& Atlas, Historical Image Library},
note = {Accession AA-2026-492709},
url = {https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/american-southwest-desert-landscape-1970s}
}TY - ART TI - American Southwest Desert Landscape, 1970s PY - 1970–1979 PB - Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library AN - AA-2026-492709 UR - https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/american-southwest-desert-landscape-1970s ER -
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