Story-Telling Through Photography in the Southwest - Diné College

“Busy Bee Roping Company” I took this photo because of the lighting and the complementary colors. The purple ground and the yellow Busy Bee Pipe Company building. Also the Roping dummy offers an asymmetrical feel. It shows how man is going to leave his mark on the world, with their junk and illegal dumping of trash and such. I captured the beauty of it, crazy as it sounds I did. Credit: Kayla Jackson

Burnside, AZ. Credit: Tachena Billie

Canyon de Chelly

“Roots” due to things like overgrazing, rains can erode large sections of the land away exposing the roots of plants. Tsaile AZ. Credit: Elphonso Curley

This picture shows the illegal dumping on the Navajo Reservation. Bottles and other garbage being thrown away on the environment. Harming the place by hurting the homes of animals around and making it look messy for the people who live there. People having no common sense to pick up after themselves, so they leave them thinking it will be forgotten. Credit: Ryan Lee

Illegal dumping is a common issue. A discarded TV with more trash behind. Tsailie AZ. Credit: Darrell Yazzie

Cows grazing near Many Farms AZ. Overgrazing is large problem in the reservation, and the exposed soil erodes during heavy storms, reshaping the landscape. Credit: Allison Lee

Burnside, AZ. Credit: Tachena Billie

“Evening Flight”, was taken on February 21, 2015 at 5:11 pm. It didn’t occur to me that it was very unusual for bluebirds to migrate back this early in the season. However bluebirds do have a better understanding of the environment then we do. So, I took this picture because it was the only moment and the only chance I had to get up close to a bird. Credit: Kyle V. Sorrell

“Graffiti” I’m Kyle V. Sorrell and the “Graffiti” was taken above a hill in Tsaile, AZ, on April 6, 2015. The writing stated that we should protect our mountains. Whoever wrote the statement is right, we do need to protect our mountains because its part of our Navajo culture. He or She must have been a good person from the heart. We know graffiti can be presumed as a wrong or right doing, certain ones do have meaning and content, some may be provocative, but we all have a different way of viewing things and what suits us. Credit: Kyle V. Sorrell

“Vanishing Water” is a photo that I took on January 15, 2015 in the afternoon. Most of the water is now gone but slowly rejuvenating and healing. This shows how we as humans can change the environment or the habitat for animals and birds. Not only nature itself changes we also have a part in it as well. Credit: Kyle V. Sorrell

Warning sign near Shiprock NM. Credit: Carl Haskie

Credit: Matt Curleyhair

Credit: Matt Curleyhair

Trash pile near Del Muerto AZ. This pile is only 30 yards from the home. Seeing trash in front of a house when you have kids and people nearby, is very disturbing. Trash and illegal dumping is a big issues around the reservation. Credit: Lyle Bitsoi

An abandoned house with graffiti on the walls. Navajo NM. Credit: Mariah Mariano

Dilkon AZ. Credit: Allison Lee