Lake Manly: Death Valley, a View of Ancient Lake Manly from Hells Gate (Morning)
1997
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image/sheet: 18.8 × 23.8 cm (7 3/8 × 9 3/8 in.) sheet: 40.6 × 50.8 cm (16 × 20 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of J. Patrick and Patricia A. Kennedy
Accession Number
2020.163.43
Art Historical Context
Mark Ruwedel's *Lake Manly: Death Valley, a View of Ancient Lakely from Hells GateMorning)* (1997) captures the stark beauty of Death Valley National Park through a gelatin silver print, a classic black-and-white photographic process prized for its rich tonal gradations and fine detail. From the dramatic vantage of Hells Gate, the image evokes the morning light illuminating the vast, evaporated expanse of prehistoric Lake Manly—a Pleistocene-era body of water that once filled this arid basin during a wetter climate, leaving behind shimmering salt flats and layered sediments as silent witnesses...
About the Artist
Mark Ruwedel
Mark Ruwedel, born on June 11, 1954, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, initially pursued painting, earning a BFA from Kutztown State College in 1978. He transitioned to photography during this time, later obtaining an MFA from Concordia University in Montreal in 1983. Working as a custom printer in Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1980 honed his technical skills before he relocated to Canada, where he taught a...