Monument Valley

The Navajo call it Tsé Biiʼ Ndzisgaii — Valley of Light, Valley of Rocks. Both are true. And they say that the true nature of this landscape is only revealed in motion. You drive along a dusty track for a while and gradually begin to understand what they mean.

John Ford understood it immediately. The director came here over seventy years ago, recognised the drama of this backdrop and created a cinematic monument to the valley with his Western films. Ever since, Monument Valley has shaped our image of the Wild West — an image that has more to do with light and sandstone than with history.

Geologically, the mesas, spires and buttes were formed over millions of years — layers of sediment, lifted by tectonic forces, eroded by wind and water until only the hardest remained.

These images are a tribute to both: to the landscape that has carved out this form over eons — and to the vision that Ford was the first to have for it.