During the Great Depression, five thousand men and their families came to Black Canyon to tame the Colorado River. They worked for five years and created the highest dam on earth. It was the costliest water project ever, and the home of the largest power plant of its time. In this image, I try to express the beauty, sweep, and magnitude of this dam by abstracting it, suggesting more than I show. By using my spot meter to expose for the illuminated surface of the dam, the background goes dark, throwing the surface of the dam into overwhelming prominence. I structure the image around rhythmic repetition, letting the eye flow up and down along the five vertical towers, while at the same time relying on five repeating curving lines and 30 curving horizontal lines on the face of the dam itself to create a pattern filled with dynamic energy. And energy is what this structure was built for more than seventy years ago.