PHOTOGRAPHS BY
JINGYI (VICTOR) LIARIZONA / SOUTHERN UTAH
DECEMBER 2024

The road kept finding an edge

RIM
COUNTRY

SNOW / STONE / RIVER03

ENTER ISSUE 03 ↓

30 PHOTOGRAPHS · ISSUE 03

Every rim was
another beginning.

The road climbs from pink desert into snow and weather. Bryce breaks stone into figures; the Grand Canyon turns those figures back into distance. Trails move below the rim, evening catches Zion's walls, and water finally gives the eye a way out.

ARIZONA / SOUTHERN UTAH · SNOW / STONE / RIVER

US 89 curves between pink desert walls beneath an immense winter sky. — 01ASPHALT CURVEThe road keeps its light as the canyon falls away, a single clear line through the darkened cut.

A wet two-lane road bends toward a snow-striped red ridge under a low gray sky. — 02WEATHER AHEADWet pavement bends toward a snow-striped ridge; winter drains the highway of color before the rock gives it back.

A black car approaches through a tunnel cut into snow-dusted red rock near Panguitch. — 03THROUGH THE WALLNear Panguitch, the road enters a tunnel carved straight through red rock—the literal threshold of the issue.

An empty highway points toward snow-striped red mesas beneath a vast gray winter sky. — 04THE LONG APPROACHAn empty centerline aims toward Bryce country, where snow and red strata wait beneath a sky that has not yet opened.

Snow threads through orange hoodoos and pine forest beneath a heavy Bryce Canyon cloud ceiling. — 05FIRST RIMBryce arrives all at once: hoodoos, snow, pine, and a storm ceiling stacked into the same cold amphitheater.

Fog drifts over a snowy Bryce Canyon ridge while orange hoodoos descend into dark forest. — 06CLOUD BELOWFog settles into the upper basin and erases the horizon, leaving orange towers to float above the forest.

A solitary hoodoo rises against gray sky above snowy walls and a distant pale desert. — 07ONE TOWERA solitary hoodoo holds the foreground while the canyon falls away into pale winter distance.

Warm Bryce hoodoos descend into a forested winter basin beneath layered storm cloud. — 08STORM BREAKWarm hoodoos hold the left edge while the basin recedes toward a thin break in the winter weather.

A bright band of sun crosses red Bryce Canyon walls while blue-gray storm cloud gathers above. — 09THE SUN BANDOne hard strip of light crosses the amphitheater, separating warm carved stone from the storm shadow below.

Bryce Canyon hoodoos fill a deep amphitheater as winter light opens on the distant plateau. — 10AMPHITHEATERThousands of hoodoos accumulate into one geological crowd, their warm midtones receding toward snow.

Balanced hoodoo towers frame a sunlit winter plateau above Bryce Canyon. — 11GATEWAYTwo near towers make a stone portal; beyond them, the plateau catches the brighter weather.

A mushroom-shaped hoodoo stands against layered red basins and a snow-bright horizon. — 12BALANCED ROCKThe capstone looks improbably placed, but the canyon behind it makes balance feel like a regional habit.

Hikers walk through a narrow corridor between tall orange hoodoos at Bryce Canyon. — 13INSIDE THE HOODOOSHikers enter the narrow corridor where orange walls take over from the broad rim view and human scale finally becomes legible.

A natural arch and two orange rock pillars frame the pale desert beyond Bryce Canyon. — 14THE LANDSCAPE'S APERTUREA natural arch edits the distant desert into bands of pale rock and blue-gray air.

Jingyi stands at the Bryce Canyon rim with snow-dusted hoodoos filling the background. — 15AT THE RIMAgainst the amphitheater, a winter portrait becomes less about arrival than about being briefly held by scale.

A vast Grand Canyon wall falls into cool shadow beneath streaming white cloud. — 16BLUE DROPThe Grand Canyon begins as a fall from sunlight into cool distance, with cloud streaks repeating the long horizontal rim.

Sunlit foreground stone gives way to nested Grand Canyon ridges and cool-shadowed depth. — 17NEAR / FARSunlit stone at the viewer's feet gives way to nested ridges whose color fades before their shape does.

Two visitors sit at the Grand Canyon rim, small against rock, distance, and a muted blue sky. — 18SCALE STUDYTwo visitors sit almost unnoticed on the rim; the canyon makes stillness feel smaller than motion.

A high Grand Canyon view descends through terraces toward a distant pale road. — 19THE ROAD BELOWTerraces descend around a road so distant it reads first as a pale thread, then as evidence of depth.

Sunlight divides layered Grand Canyon walls while the Colorado River bends far below. — 20SUNLIT WALLSLight divides the canyon wall into rust, ash, and cool shadow, while the Colorado appears as a thin green turn far below.

Elk pause among juniper, yucca, and winter brush near the Grand Canyon rim. — 21ELK COUNTRYNear the rim, elk emerge from a tangle of juniper and winter brush—the only forms here that can choose their own direction.

Contrails cross a muted blue sky above terraced Grand Canyon walls and deep side canyons. — 22LINES ABOVE / BELOWContrails branch across the sky as side canyons branch through the rock, one geometry temporary and the other ancient.

A trail threads between layered red cliffs and a pine toward the open Grand Canyon. — 23UNDER THE EDGEA pine and a dark cliff narrow the panorama into passage, drawing the eye toward a small illuminated canyon beyond.

One person stands on a vast striped Zion sandstone floor beneath a streaked winter sky. — 24OPEN SANDSTONEOn Zion's broad sandstone floor, one person becomes a dark punctuation mark beneath a sky that seems to move faster than the land.

Late sun strikes a pale Zion cliff between a near-black wall and winter trees. — 25LAST LIGHTLate sun finds a pale cliff between near-black walls and bare branches, turning a narrow band of stone into the frame's only heat.

A wide red Zion cliff holds beneath peach-lit evening clouds and muted blue sky. — 26WEATHER TURNS PEACHEvening cloud holds a faint peach light above the long red cliff—the issue's warmest breath before the river.

Hikers are scattered across a vast striped sandstone floor beneath a pale Zion wall. — 27HUMAN INTERVALSHikers scatter across striped sandstone, spaced widely enough for the open floor to keep its scale.

Opposing red and pale Zion cliffs rise above a shadowed winter slope beneath sweeping cloud. — 28TWO WALLSOpposing cliffs rise toward a central notch, their warm and pale faces holding different versions of the same light.

A clear winter river ripples over amber stones beneath bare trees and red canyon brush. — 29WATER TAKES THE COLORClear winter water moves amber stones downstream, carrying the rock palette into a quieter register.

A shallow winter river leads between sheer Zion walls toward a pale opening. — 30RIVER ROADThe issue closes where the river inherits the highway's role, leading between sheer walls toward a small pale opening.