Frontier Homestead State Park and photographer Michael Plyler present “Sandstone, Silver, and Time,” an exhibition of black-and-white photographs celebrating the beauty of Zion National Park during this centennial anniversary year of the creation of the National Park Service. The show will run from Sept. 1 through Oct. 31 at Frontier Homestead State Park.
Springdale resident Michael Plyler works with a 4 x 5 large format film camera to interpret the beauty of his backyard, Zion National Park. His prints are individually handcrafted traditional “wet” darkroom prints. Plyler said that the title of this show is a meditation on the constituent elements that contribute to the imagery; just as erosion over time shapes the sandstone, time and silver conspire to sculpt the film’s emulsion and bring Zion’s beauty to the fore.
Plyler is the director of the Zion Canyon Field Institute in Zion National Park. He has been taking photographs and exhibiting his work since 1982. In 1983, he received a commission from the Guatemalan Tourist Institute for his portrait work of the highland Maya, resulting in his first international exhibition. In 1993 he was awarded a Visual Artist Fellowship from the Utah Arts Council. In 2013, 56 pieces from his Mayan portfolio were added to the permanent collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. His work has been exhibited widely and is held in numerous public and private collections.
In 2010, Utah State University Press released Plyler’s and writer Logan Hebner’s book, “Southern Paiute: A Portrait.” The book was the culmination of a 10-year project wherein Hebner interviewed and Plyler photographed Southern Paiute elders from Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah.
Frontier Homestead State Park is open from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday–Saturday. More information is available from (435) 586-9290 or email frontierhomestead@utah.gov. Frontier Homestead State Park Museum is located at 635 N. Main St. in Cedar City. This exhibit is made possible by the support of the Cedar City Brian Head Tourism Bureau.
Articles related to “Frontier Homestead State Park hosts Michael Plyler photography exhibit”
Local art gallery features painting of mountains, sparks controversy
