Whether it’s a water derrick at the Springs Preserve, reeds in a Wetlands marsh, or the Truckee River—curving confidently through a vast desert landscape—Cody Brothers’ majestic images of Nevada ring as a dramatic reminder of the precious landscape we live in, rely on and, in some cases, neglect and pillage.
His Nevada Reflections: The Silver State in Black & White at the Springs Preserve’s Big Springs Gallery was designed to reflect the past, present and future of Southern Nevada’s water issues and, in doing so, capture a marvelous environment as rugged as it is delicate and taxed.
Cody Brothers' 'Silver State' at Nevada State Museum.
Brothers’ use of infrared black-and-white film and long exposures creates high contrast, sweeping panoramas of the vast, textured Nevada landscape (both urban and rural), often against dark skies. The result is gorgeous, awe-inspiring and almost otherworldly: palm trees stark against an ethereal background in Warm Springs, the power and stillness of the Las Vegas Wash at the Pabco Weir and Lake Mead as a lone body of water in a formidable landscape.
Born and raised in New Mexico, where he’s now a resident of Pecos, Brothers focuses much of his time on a narrative he refers to as the “Western Abandon”—mostly capturing the vast Southwest and remnants left by its people who have come and gone—“abandoned farms, crumbling homes, neglected churches, aging cemeteries, forgotten cars,” all set against the vast landscapes. In Reflections, he shows us what we often forget to see: a current snapshot of the unique greatness that is the Silver State.
Nevada Reflections: The Silver State in Black and White Through January 20; daily, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; $5-$19. Springs Preserve, 822-7700.
