Rainbow Bridge, Glen Canyon, Utah, August 28, 1961
Artist
Eliot Porter
(American, 1901 - 1990)
Date1961
Mediumdye transfer print
DimensionsImage: 10 9/16 × 8 3/16 in. (26.8 × 20.8 cm)
Support: 10 9/16 × 8 3/16 in. (26.8 × 20.8 cm)
Support (Secondary): 20 × 15 in. (50.8 × 38.1 cm)
Mat: 20 × 16 in. (50.8 × 40.6 cm)
Support: 10 9/16 × 8 3/16 in. (26.8 × 20.8 cm)
Support (Secondary): 20 × 15 in. (50.8 × 38.1 cm)
Mat: 20 × 16 in. (50.8 × 40.6 cm)
ClassificationsPhotograph
Credit LineGift of Eliot Porter, 1988
Object number1993.3.125
DescriptionBlue sky and canyon wall in background, eroded canyon wall leaving an arch in foreground.eMuseum Notes
One
of the best-known features of Glen Canyon is Nonnezoshe (“rainbow turned to
stone” in Navajo), known in English as Rainbow Bridge. Viewing this natural
formation once involved a rugged hike but after Glen Canyon Dam was built and
Lake Powell began to rise, the site was accessible by motorboat, bringing
thousands of visitors annually. In 1974, Navajo tribal members filed a lawsuit
to preserve this and other sacred places but the court declined to close
Rainbow Bridge to the public for Navajo religious ceremonies.
On View
Not on viewEliot Porter
April 8, 1963 (printed later)