摄影师召唤你去探索白沙国家公园

Fine art photographer Craig Varjabedian has spent his career focusing his lens on the natural wonders of New Mexico, and in his photo book, "Into The Great White Sands," he showcases the beauty of one of the country's most surreal landscapes — White Sands National Park.

美术摄影师克雷格·瓦尔贾比迪安的职业生涯一直专注于新墨西哥州的自然奇观，在他的摄影书《走进大白沙》中，他展示了美国最超现实的景观之一——白沙国家公园的美丽。

"White Sands Cottonwood Fall" (Photo: © Craig Varjabedian)

When he was putting the book together, the site was still a national monument, but it had cast its spell on him long before. It received national park status in December 2019, becoming the nation's 62nd national park, and pushing the place he knows so well into the limelight.

当他整理这本书的时候，这个地方仍然是一个国家纪念碑，但它在很久以前就对他产生了影响。2019年12月，它获得了国家公园的地位，成为美国第62个国家公园，并将这个他非常熟悉的地方推到了聚光灯下。

Located near a government missile range in the Chihuahuan Desert of southern New Mexico, White Sands National Park is the site of the world's largest gypsum dunefield. Despite its desolate appearance, this snow-like desert destination has earned the nickname "Galapagos of North America" due to its wealth of thriving animal and plant life.

白沙国家公园位于新墨西哥州南部奇瓦瓦沙漠的一个政府导弹靶场附近，是世界上最大的石膏沙丘场。尽管外表荒凉，但这个像雪一样的沙漠目的地因其丰富的动植物而赢得了“北美加拉帕戈斯群岛”的绰号。

"If you really want an experience — getting away from everybody — this is the place to be," Varjabedian told MNN. "It's unbelievable — I remembering being out there, all by myself, and it was so quiet I could hear my heartbeat — and not because I was walking too fast."

“如果你真的想要一种体验——远离所有人——这就是你应该去的地方，”瓦尔贾比迪安告诉MNN。“这太不可思议了——我记得当时我一个人在外面，周围很安静，我都能听到自己的心跳了——不是因为我走得太快了。”

According to the National Park Service, the story of White Sands "began 280 million years ago when the Permian Sea covered this area and gypsum settled on the sea floor. Gypsum is rarely found in sand form making the 275-square-mile dunefield a one-of-a-kind natural wonder."

据国家公园管理局称，白沙的故事“始于2.8亿年前，当时二叠纪海覆盖了这一地区，石膏沉积在海底。石膏很少以沙子的形式存在，这使得这座占地275平方英里的沙丘田成为了独一无二的自然奇观。”

When it was upgraded to a national park, the site expanded by roughly 2,000 acres, separating the site from the missile range, making it more accessible and guaranteeing a certain level of funding.

当它被升级为国家公园时，基地扩大了约2000英亩，将基地与导弹射程隔开，使它更容易到达，并保证一定程度的资金。

"Dune at Sunset" (Photo: © Craig Varjabedian)

You can really get a sense of the mysterious grandeur of these gypsum dunes in the image above, which Varjabedian made the cover of his book.

在上面的图片中，你可以真正感受到这些石膏沙丘的神秘宏伟，这是瓦尔贾比迪安的书的封面。

The project was mostly self-funded, but during the process Varjabedian turned to fellow lovers of nature and photography to help make the book's publication a reality. He raised more than $15,000 on a Kickstarter campaign, and the book was published by University of New Mexico Press in 2018, winning the New Mexico-Arizona Book Award later that year.

这个项目大部分是自费的，但是在这个过程中，瓦尔贾比迪安向其他热爱自然和摄影的人求助，帮助这本书的出版成为现实。他在一次Kickstarter活动中筹集了超过1.5万美元，该书于2018年由新墨西哥大学出版社出版，并在当年晚些时候获得了新墨西哥州-亚利桑那州图书奖。

The photos below are just a small sampling of the photography featured.

下面的照片只是其中一小部分。

"Yucca sunrise" (Photo: © Craig Varjabedian)

If you want to see the images in person, there’s a traveling exhibit of about 50 of the photos, with new sites being added all the time. You can also buy the book on Amazon.

如果你想亲眼看看这些照片，这里有一个大约50张照片的巡回展览，随时都有新网站加入。你也可以在亚马逊上买到这本书。

The news of the park's new status was exciting for Varjabedian, who spent five years putting the book together.

公园的新地位对瓦尔贾比迪安来说是令人兴奋的，他花了五年时间来整理这本书。

"Tamarisk on Dunes" (Photo: © Craig Varjabedian)

He hopes the book and the the park's newfound status will nudge more people to explore it and add it to their bucket list.

他希望这本书和公园的新地位将推动更多的人去探索它，并把它列入他们的愿望清单。

"White Sands Picnic Tables" (Photo: © Craig Varjabedian)

"Sunset Plume" (Photo: © Craig Varjabedian)

"Verbena and Grasses" (Photo: © Craig Varjabedian)

"Flat Dune Sunset" (Photo: © Craig Varjabedian)