In the far northern part of Yellowstone, terraces of flowing hot springs replace spouting geysers as natural attractions. Hot spring colors and shapes change more frequently at Mammoth Hot Springs than in most other park thermal basins. Rapid mineral build up clogs the underground “plumbing,” changing water circulation and hot spring activity.
One of the most spectacular sights at Yellowstone is the enormous face of Minerva Terrace. For years it has bubbled and flowed with steaming hot water. In fact, the entire cover of the National Park Service’s current official brochure for Yellowstone National Park features a wrap-around panoramic view of Minerva Terrace in full flow and bathed in rich, golden brown colors. What we saw, however, was an entirely different ‘Hot Spring.” Minerva Terrace had gone bone dry. Its famous golden brown terraces had become white, gray, and black with only a trace of its former brownish luster. I made this image of a very small segment of Minerva Terrace –and found that its textures still told a story of time and change. What we see here is the majesty of time stopped in its tracks. It almost looks like a giant lava flow. Some might wonder, since the color is minimal here, why I did not convert this image to black and white. That would have killed the story for me. There is still a hint of color and life in Minerva Terrace, and I’ve found it in this image. The blacks and grays hold a hint brown, gold, and even bluish white. A residue of gray ash-like material wanders up from the base and then runs across the diagonal plane of the image. The subtle colors burnish the texture and make it live. To mindlessly convert this image to black and white would destroy its meaning for me.