The Soul of Colorado
An introduction to “Light Beneath the Snow” — a meditation on light, silence, and the winter identity of Colorado.
In Colorado, winter is not a pause between seasons—it is the season that defines them all. The state’s identity is shaped not by its summers but by the months when light becomes scarce and silence takes over. Altitude, isolation, and endurance become the quiet architects of character.
Light Beneath the Snow explores that identity through image and reflection. The series studies how light interacts with landscape, and how human presence—small, humble, and enduring—becomes part of that equation.
The flagship image, The Soul of Colorado, captures this spirit in a single frame. It’s a self-portrait made above Ouray, Colorado—my old stomping grounds. The glow of homes below contrasts the cold vastness above, revealing a truth that runs through every Colorado winter: even in the darkest months, warmth persists.
I made the photograph in 2018, standing alone at nearly eight thousand feet under a sky so full of starlight it felt close enough to hear. The air was thin and sharp—about ten degrees that night—and the battery in my camera lasted maybe ten minutes. In that short span, the exposure became something more than a photograph. The human form, positioned against the immensity of the range, became symbolic—not of identity, but of presence. It reflected a relationship between land and individual that is deeply rooted in reverence rather than spectacle.
But that night was only the beginning.
The story started there—and for years, it has waited in the cold, unfinished. This winter, I’m returning to complete it. To capture the images that belong beside The Soul of Colorado—scenes of endurance, silence, and light.
Throughout the Light Beneath the Snow series, that balance between wilderness and warmth remains constant. Each image will examine a facet of winter’s design:
The Human Element – portraits and silhouettes framed against vast, frozen space.
The Built West – the architecture of light: windows, barns, and churches glowing under snow.
The Wild West – storms, rivers, and trees bent under weight and wind.
The Work – motion and purpose amid the stillness: ranchers, drivers, laborers in the cold.
The Light – moments of transcendence, both celestial and symbolic.
Together, these form a visual meditation on endurance and beauty. The tone is not grandiose but reverent, favoring stillness over drama, reflection over declaration.
Future entries in this series will unfold through The Western Lensman Dispatch—each one a short essay and image pairing, tracing light’s movement through the heart of winter.
Colorado teaches that beauty is not always abundant; sometimes it’s earned through quiet, patience, and frost. Beneath the snow, there is always light. You just have to stand still long enough to see it.
Until Next Time,
Markus
The Western Lensman Dispatch
Field Notes from the American West