Ancient cliff dwellers found a sanctuary in the great gorge of Canyon de Chelly. This ruin stands at the junction of two of its many twisting sub-canyons. I noticed the mid-day shadows creating black slashes in the rock face of the canyon, echoing the harsh, unforgiving nature of life in this remote place. I layer the image with a similar slash created by a shadowed, shattered branch of a fallen tree. Its upward curve echoes the curves of the shadows on the canyon wall. By spot metering on the bright face of the cliff, the shadowy branch with its feathered end also becomes an abstraction, a silhouette that suggests the wing of a soaring eagle, sacred to the Indians who live in this canyon.